Not As It Seems
by sonyanicole
Summary: Hermione's been dead for a year now. When she visits Draco in his dream he goes out to uncover the meaning of it with the help of some unexpected people. Will the dream mean what they think it means or does it mean something different?
1. Dreams

**Not As It Seems**

**Chapter 1**

**Dreams**

"I can't believe she's gone" Harry cried.

Ron just nodded to his best friend trying to hold the tears back.

"Come on mate, we better be getting home" Ron finally spoke and turned away with Harry following behind. Ron didn't make it three steps before stopping causing Harry to bump into Ron's back.

"What the?" Harry asked.

"What are you doing here ferret?" Ron yelled, causing Draco to flinch.

"Just coming to visit an old friend" Draco spoke with an annoyed tone.

"You did nothing but torture her, her whole life! You weren't friends!" Ron was now fuming.

"What are you talking about Weasel?" confusion writing on Draco's face.

"Hermione, she's dead because of your kind!"

"Miss Know-it-all is dead?" Draco was more than confused now.

"Ron come on Molly will start to get worried, let's just go" Harry tried to reason and was only answer with an annoyed grunt from Ron as he stormed off out of the cemetery and apparated to the burrow, "Listen Malfoy, We don't like each other but she was killed by death eaters last year on a mission, just thought I'd let you know"

"That's a massive shocked, do you know who did it?"

"We have no idea…"

"Why are you telling me this?"

"I have my reasons, I've got to go now before Ron kills me" Harry tried to laugh but could only manage a forced smile; Draco only nodded and made his was to Hermione's grave after watching Harry apparated away and knelt down.

"Wow, so you're really gone, I never would have imagined that…" Draco couldn't take his eyes off the photo of her smiling and dancing around, on her gravestone, "I'm so sorry, for everything that I've done to do you at school, I was an immature git who just wanted attention from his father, but now, now that I'm free to think for myself, I regret everything I've ever done to you and everyone else, I always thought you were different from all the other girls, you were stubborn yes but you were always so brave and strong, stronger than I ever could be… I hope you're happy where ever you are and aren't being caused any more pain" He didn't know why he was saying all this; he knew it wouldn't make a difference but he just had to let her know. He placed a bunched of wildflowers at the head of the grave stone and turned and apparated home to the empty Manor that he knows owned since his parents were both killed in the war by the Order.

Lying on his bed Ron just stared at the ceiling in his quiet room, Ron let his tears run down the side of his face and into his flame red hair that was longer then it normally would be, the image of Hermione in his head never leaving for a second. The last night he saw her before she went on her mission for Dumbledore.

It was her 21st birthday party, all her friends from school were there, all the Weasly's and all of her old professors, and everyone was having a great time. It was the first time since her parents died in a car accident that anyone has seen her happy and so relaxed.

It was a big surprise party in the three broomsticks in Hogsmeade, the place was full of balloons, food, drinks and presents of course.

The way her face light up when she saw everyone jump out and yell surprise was his favourite memory of her, it looked like she was the happiest she could ever be but it all ended too soon, too quickly, with her going away for the mission the next day, the night blew by so fast.

The knock at the door brought Ron back to reality, he wipe away all his tears and took a few breaths before opening the door and finding a pair of worry and concern filled emerald eyes behind a pair of circle spectacles.

"There's some food downstairs, Molly's made our favourite, shepherd's pie with bacon and potatoes if you'd like to come down and have some with us?" Harry asked hopefully.

"I'm not all that hungry mate" even though Ron was hungry he just wanted to be alone.

"Mate, I love you like a brother I really do and I'm worried about you, you know…" Harry sighed "You've been in here for 3 days straight already and only left this morning to come to the cemetery with me to see Hermione, it's been hard dealing with Hermione dying and know that it's been a year since she did but we are trying to be here for you but we can't if you keep shutting us out, so how about this, we go down and have some food, then you go have a shower and I'll get George and Ginny and we can have a game of quidditch?"

Ron just stood silent for a moment before nodding "Yeah alright, you're right and it'll get me out of my room for a bit"

Harry gave him wide pleased grin which Ron surprisingly returned and the boys went down and had some food.

The food was delicious as always, but Ron only took a few bites and played with the rest of his food, after they finished and Ron had a shower and changed into some clean clothes before going outside to started their game of quidditch, which like always rough but no injuries were caused even though Ron almost threw Ginny off her broom by flying past her faster than normal and bumping in to her side so she couldn't get the quaffle off of him. Once the game was won by Harry and Ron they went back inside and like the past three days Ron just went back into his room saying he wanted to be alone again.

Inside his room he just laid on his back and start at the ceiling thinking of Hermione smiling.

In his room all he could think about was his past and how terrible he treated her and everyone else but mainly her, always calling her mudblood, beaver or something else that was disgustingly horrible.

He'd been thinking about her and what could have happened since he arrived back at the Manor after visiting her in the cemetery and it wasn't until then that he forgot why he actually went to that cemetery in the first place, to see Pansy Parkinson.

She was also killed by Death Eathers after the war was over for refusing to join the Death Eathers and take revenge on Harry Potter for killing their precious_ 'Lord'_.

It had been hard without her there talking his ear off talking about anything that came to her mind at the present time; she was Draco's only real friend apart from Blaise Zabini and Theodore Nott who he hadn't seen for a year now. She was always there whenever he needed someone; he loved her but more as a sister.

She had been dead for 2 and a half years now and Draco still couldn't get over her death.

Now knowing that Granger wasn't alive and in the ground really haunted him, he always wanted to make up for the way he acted towards the golden trio but now he couldn't, he could still always try and make a mends with the other two but without Granger there it wouldn't be the same.

He'd been sitting in the arm chair that sat in front of the dimming fire place inside his room for 5 hours now and was starting to drift off to sleep.

_All he could see was darkness, there was no noise but he knew he wasn't alone; he went to reach for his wand but to find that it wasn't in his pocket or his hand and he began to panic._

"_Who's there?" he screamed but got no answer only a cold wind that almost knocked him over "Who's there?" he tried again but the only answer he got was the cold wind again._

_Once the wind stopped there was a girl starting in front of him about three meters away, in a floor length plain white gown that flowed loosely around her body, with thick straps, she was quiet short, maybe 5'5ft; she had curls that fell off her shoulders which were a soft brown colour. Her eyes were a deep chocolate colour but held no warmth. He knew the face of the girl but couldn't but a name to her face._

"_Granger?" he asked realizing who was the girl in front of him was, she was crying but he didn't know why. "Why are you crying?" _

"_Come find me, please" was all she could say between sobs "I'm so cold, come find me" she began to cough up blood but Draco could only just stand there watching her in disbelief._

"_Granger, you're dead? I came and visited your grave today?" he had to ask, all that answered him was an ear piercing scream coming from her, then she was gone._

He woke with a start; he was shivering, with cold sweat all over his body and he had tears streaming down his pale face.

He got out of his chair and went to his bathroom that was connected to his bedroom, to have a shower and hopefully get the images of her out of his head but wasn't successful. He stayed in the shower for a good hour just letting the water runs down his body.

When he got out it was 7 in the morning. He made his way back to his bedroom to get dressed with a tight deep blue t-shirt that showed off muscular body, and a plain pair of black jeans and made his way down to his family's library.

Once in the library he called his Eagle owl, Sphinx, he quickly grabbed a piece of parchment and some ink with a quill, and wrote down a quick and short letter and sent Sphinx off to the receiver.

Harry was woken by a tapping at his window; he rolled over in his bed and looked at the unfamiliar owl that was waiting for him to let it in. He rolled out of bed with a slight annoyed grunt, he made his way to the window and took the letter and gave the owl treats that Hermione would always give Hedwig and the owl was off not waiting for a reply. Harry opened the letter and what he found surprised him.

_Potter_

_Look I know that we both hate each other but could you possibly floo to Malfoy Manor at around 9? It's about Granger and I think it's best to do this in person._

_Malfoy_

'Well that is the last thing I ever thought I'd get from Malfoy' Harry thought to himself, he looked at the clock and saw it read 8:30.

He went back to his room and changed into a black long sleeve top and faded blue jeans, he went downstairs and found Ron sitting at the table shoving food in his mouth like he usually would.

"Morning Ron" Harry said while getting himself a cup of coffee

"Morning mate" Ron spoke with a mouth full of toast

"Good to see you eating again" Harry chuckled

"Yeah, I realized last night that 'Mione wouldn't want me to sulk around all day and drown in self-pity; but to continue my life, you know?"

"Well said mate" smiled Harry, "Well I'll be back soon, need to go see someone about something"

"Where are you going? Who are you seeing?" Ron asked curiously.

"Just an old muggle friend, is all and somewhere in London, I'll see you when I get back and we can have a round of wizards chess or something?" Harry asked trying to distract Ron from the lie and trying to slip out of the kitchen quickly so he could make it to Malfoy Manor quickly and not be late.

"Yeah sure why not, but be ready to lose" Ron laughed

"You wish mate" Harry chuckled and walked into the lounge room, it was empty thank goodness, he looked around to see if anyone was around or could hear, when he was certain it was safe, he grabbed a handful of floo powder and spoke _Malfoy Manor_ ask quietly as possible but still loud and clearly enough so the floo would understand him.

When he arrived at the Manor it was huge, it was really different from when he, Hermione and Ron were captured and brought here by the snatchers during the war.

"Potter, you made it" greeted Malfoy from a door way, he walked up to Harry and reached out his hand

Harry stared at it for a moment; finally he took it and shook it "Malfoy" he nodded "So what's this about Hermione?"

"Oh yes, let's go speak somewhere more comfortable shall we? Just… um… follow me" Malfoy nervously spoke and not waiting for a reply from Harry before turning on his heel and going back the way he came.

After walked what seemed like forever for Harry they finally arrived in the biggest library he'd ever seen "I think Hermione would have loved it in here" Harry sighed

"Did she love books that much?" Malfoy asked with an eyebrow raised

"Yes, she would always go off at me and Ron if he didn't take care of the books we have at home" Harry laughed and was surprised when Malfoy laughed as well

"I always knew she loved books but not that much I must admit" he said once they finished laughing "Would you like some tea?" he asked trying to be being polite

"Yeah sure, thanks" Harry responded

"Right, Bubble"

_POP. _An elf dressed in an adorable black tux show up next to Draco. The elf had large eyes much like Dobby did.

"Yes Master Malfoy" Bubble squeaked

"I would like to introduce you to Mr. Harry Potter" Malfoy smiled

Bubble turned to Harry and bowed "Pleasure to meet you Mister Potter"

"Pleasure to meet you also Bubble" Harry bowed back, much to Bubble's surprise.

"Winky could we have some tea and bisects please?" Malfoy asked in a soft pleasant tone.

"Right away Master Malfoy" and with that Bubble left with a pop again.

"I've always liked that elf, I must say" Malfoy spoke after a moment of silence.

"She seems like quiet a happy elf, do you pay them?" Harry asked trying to make conversation.

"Yes I do actually and they have their own rooms too" Malfoy watched Harry's eyebrows shot up into his hairline and laughed at his reaction "I know you think I'm a cruel git who only cares about himself" Harry just nodded in agreement "Well I've changed, I'm not that boy anymore, ever since my father died in the war I've been changing the Malfoy name for the better"

"Well that's good to hear then" Harry said and they sat down on the black leather couches opposite each other "so what's this about Hermione?" Harry finally asked.

"Well, you're going to think I'm crazy but I don't think she's actually dead" Malfoy said softly and slowly.

Harry just stared at him if he was mad, but found his voice after a moment "What? You're right I think you are crazy…"

"I know, I find it hard to believe too, but after you left the cemetery yesterday I went and visited her grave, and I guess I apologized to her about everything I've ever down to her and I would also like to apologized to you as well for all the awful things I've done to you three in school" Malfoy paused for a moment and Harry nodded his forgiveness to him and waited for him to continue "And well I came home after that and I was thinking about everything that happened since school and when I fell asleep, I had a dream about her"

"Was she wearing a plain white gown that went to floor and was she coughing up blood when she asked you to go and find her?" Harry asked matter-of-factly.

Malfoy just stared at him as if he'd seen a ghost "Yes, how did you know?" he asked.

"Well believe it or not but I had the same dream last night as well, but I thought it was just my mind telling me I've finally gone crazy so I think you're on to something here" Harry answered "And that is also the only reason I came today" Harry added.

"I understand, what I don't understand is why she is trying to reach out to me? I can get you; you two were the best of friends in school but me? We really hated each other to no end" Malfoy sighed.

"Look Malfoy, there's something you don't know about Hermione, only me and Ron know and I think after everything that you've said today I think you should know" Harry paused for a moment and let out a deep breath while running his hair through his raven black hair "Well in sixth year, when everything happened, Hermione, Ron and myself saw you in Borgin and Burkes when you were to begin your task in fixing the vanishing cabinet at Hogwarts for Voldemort. On the train to Hogwarts that year we were discussing you and what happened and Hermione was in denial of you becoming a death eater, she always had a soft spot for you, back then I never understood why but no I guess I do since you seem to be an alright bloke I guess. Well during the year she keep pointing out how you look sort of ill and she wanted to help you, Ron was so mad at her that he thought it would be a good idea to hurt her to get her to forget you so he dated Lavender Brown while he knew Hermione knew was in love with him-"

"Wait she had a soft spot for me?" Malfoy interrupted "And I know you three were at Borgin and Burkes I saw you before I went in at the corner of my eye" he smirked.

"Yes she did, she always sees the good in people that they might not even see themselves" Harry said with a knowing look on his face "Anyway so Ron really hurt her which is why she was either alone or with me for most of that year, until Ron broke up with Lavender while he was asleep in the hospital wing" at that they both laughed.

"Yeah I remember hearing about that" Malfoy added.

"Yeah, the whole school did I think. Well anyway the night everything happened with Dumbledore and Snape, well Hermione was at Hagrids when everything happened and I mean everything, from Dumbledore dying, to Bellatrix setting Hargrid's hut on fire" When Draco heard this he went even more paler then he's ever been "But don't worry she got out just in time and ran for the forbidden forest and this part I think you might remember quiet well, while she was running she slip and fell and she broke her ankle, she said that she let out a painful scream, I was wondering if you heard that scream?"

"Yes I did, I had no idea it was hers though so I kept going. I knew I heard that scream when you three got captured and were made to come to here to the manor. When Bellatrix was torturing her and wrote that disgusting name on her arm, I knew I heard that scream before but I had no idea where it was from, but trust me when I say this I really wanted to help her then, but if I did she would have been killed straight away" Malfoy explained.

"I know, I could tell when we left that you look petrified so it's okay, but after she screamed she felt something fall onto her, was that you or one of the death eaters?" Harry asked.

"I think it was me but I don't remember too much of that night"

"It's alright, but when she told me she said she looked into your eyes and saw something that looked like sadness, guilt and fear. When she finally managed to get back to the castle, although I have no idea how she got back, she said something about a white light and a horn? So yeah when she got back she told me that you weren't really one of them, me and Ron both thought she was crazy at first but she wouldn't let it drop until she had us believing that you were good and no out to kill us like the rest of them were"

"That is a lot to take in" Malfoy sighed.

"Yeah it is and that is why I am here, because of what she so stubbornly didn't let us forget" Harry finished.

"So what are we going to do about Hermione? I mean she could be anywhere in the world" Malfoy asked.

"Well I want to know if she is actually dead and the only way to do that is to check her grave I guess"

"We're going to dig up her grave? But what if we're wrong?"

"Well it's a start and we don't have anything else to go on and if her body is in there then we know that she is dead and she wants us to do something but if she is alive then she is in some serious trouble if she has to reach us in our dreams" Harry concluded.

"What about Weasly?" Draco thought out loud.

"What about Ron?" Harry asked confused.

"Has he has the dream? Or is it just us?"

"I don't know, but I'll need to ask him when I get back" Harry looked at the clock and it said 2pm "Well I think I should be heading off, it was good to see you again Malfoy" Harry reached his hand out for Draco to take.

Draco took his hand and said "If Weasly has had the dream as well or a different one that has to do with finding Hermione then come here with him straight away so we can make plans, and if he hasn't then owl me and we'll arrange a time and place to meet and plan what the next step it. Is it a deal?"

"Deal"

The boys nodded to each other before Harry flooed back to the Burrow from the fire place in the library.


	2. The Best Move

**Not As It Seems**

**Chapter 2:**

**The Best Move**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter… I forgot to write that in the first chapter.**

"Ron" Harry shouted when he landed back in the burrow.

"I'm in the kitchen" Harry heard Ron shout back.

Harry made his way to the kitchen to find Ron sitting with Luna Lovegood "Hey there Luna, what a surprise to see you here" he smiled at her.

"Hello Harry, it's good to see you too, I thought I might pop by knowing what yesterday was and see how you boys were doing" Luna said in her usual dreamy voice.

"Oh, well that was really thoughtful of you Luna" Harry said surprised.

"Yeah it was" Ron agreed.

"So how would you two like to come out for lunch tomorrow?" Luna asked excitedly.

"Yeah we'd love to" Ron answered for the both of them and earning a look from Harry, which Ron just shrugged off.

"Ok great, meet me at the Leaky caldron tomorrow at 12"

"We'll be there"

"Good, now I must be going, I have to get back to work, was good to see you guys and see you tomorrow" Luna rushed.

"Yeah, see you tomorrow Luna" Ron waved.

"Bye Luna" Harry finally being able to talk.

Luna waved to the boys and was gone with a pop as one she was out the back door. Harry looked at Ron and said "What was that all about?"

"What was what all about?" Ron asked innocently.

"The whole 'Yeah we'd love to' thing"

"I thought it would be nice to see some friends again, ever since school we haven't really spent much time with too many people and it's a good chance to get out the house since the Hermione thing" Ron said with a shrug.

"Mate, are you feeling okay? Cause just 2 days ago you didn't want to leave your room for anything, not even food" Harry said with a knowing tone, he had a feeling he knew what was going on.

"Yeah I'm fine Harry, like I said earlier, 'Mione wouldn't want me to sulk around all the time" Ron said a little annoyed.

"It's about time you got out your room and stopped sulking I say" Ginny said walking into the room with a very feminine chuckle.

"Shut up, Ginny" Ron spat at his little sister.

"Someone's testy today" Ginny rolled her eye, she turned to Harry who was leaning against the counter "And where were you this morning, I heard you down here and I wanted to talk to you about something and when I came down you were gone"

"Oh, I'm sorry Ginny, I went out, I had to visit… an old friend" Harry quickly said "What was it you wanted to speak about?"

"Uh huh, well can we go for a walked?" Ginny asked a little shyly.

Harry nodded and the two walked outside through the back door and walk around the fields that surrounded the Burrow. "So…" Harry said breaking the silence.

"So… I was wondering what exactly we are?" Ginny asked quietly that Harry almost didn't hear.

Harry gave a sigh and said "I don't know, I like you Ginny, I like you a lot but I think we're better off friends at the moment, something come up and I will probably being really stressed out soon and I don't think right now is the time but I'm not saying that we don't have a future together because I think they we have a great future a head for us together" Harry with a slight blush playing at his cheeks.

"What's come up?" Ginny asked concerned "You're not with someone else are you?"

"What? No of course not! I wish I could tell you but I'm not quiet too sure what it is myself, I need to talk to Ron before I let anyone else know what's going on but I will tell you when I know, okay" Harry said with guilt in is voice.

"Sure" is all Ginny could say before Harry stopped her and turned her to him and pulled her into a tight hug "I worry about you sometimes Harry"

"You shouldn't worry about me; I took on Voldemort I'm pretty sure I can keep myself safe, I promise"

Ginny just laughed at his teasing and pulled away from Harry "You a git" Ginny winked.

"Then that must make you a bigger git then" Harry chuckled when Ginny slapped his arm in a playful manner "That was mean, so I think I might just do this" But before Ginny could react she was thrown onto Harry's shoulder and being spun around. When he finally put her down after kicking around and laughing so hard, Harry just looked into her eyes and began to step forward. When they were inches apart Harry leaned in and captured her lips with his. It was a passionate but gentle kiss that told the other their feelings that they couldn't say out loud.

When Harry pulled away Ginny could only blush and smile ear to ear and it looked like Harry was the same.

"I defiantly see us having a very long happy future together" Harry spoke after a moment causing Ginny to giggle like a little girl "Shall we go back inside before anyone gets curious?" Harry asked.

"A little late for that one mate" came a voice from above them; both Harry and Ginny looked up and saw George on his broom giving them a playful glare "I thought I heard Ginny scream and when I flew over here I found it was just you two and I think I saw more than I was supposed to for a matter of fact"

"Well that's what you get for snooping" Ginny laughed and George dismounted his broom and made his way to his sister, getting her into a headlock and messing up her hair.

"Oh my darling sister, I'm just trying to be a good big brother to my baby sister after all" George said letting Ginny go to straighten up her hair.

"I swear to Merlin George you mess up my hair again like you usually do I will give hex you into next week" Ginny said with a glare at her big brother who just put his hands up in defeat.

"Well shall we go inside before anyone is hexed?" Harry asked trying to get back inside so he could talk to Ron about the dream.

"I think we shall Harry" George said linking his arms with his sister and Harry. Ginny just rolling her eyes.

When they came back in they were surprised that Ron was still sitting at the table but reading a book.

"Ron?" Harry said with caution.

"Yes Harry?" Ron asks looking up from his book.

"Why are you reading '_Hogwarts a history'_?"

"I don't know actually, I went back to my room just after you left but it wasn't very comfortable enough so I came back down here" Ron said looking back at the book.

"Okay, but why are you reading it?"

"I just felt like it" Ron shrugged.

"Okay, you've been acting weird all day, you never read, is it because it was 'Mione's favourite book?" Harry asked already knowing the answer.

"I guess so, I just miss her" Ron said in a sad tone.

"Oh Ron we all miss her" Ginny spoke up with a concerted look at her brother.

"I feel like she's not dead though" Ron said suddenly and Harry just looked at him "What's wrong Harry? You look like you're going to be sick?" Ron asked when he saw Harry's face.

"Ron I need to ask you, last night did you have a dream about 'Mione, where she was in a plain white dress that went to the floor and was she asking you to find her and then she coughed up blood?" When Harry said this, Ron just went white as a ghost

"How did you know?" Ron finally spoke after a moment.

"Because Mal… someone and I had the same dream and that's who I went and saw today…" Harry said carefully.

"Who is this someone else?" Ron asked suspiciously.

"Don't get mad, but I trust him and I need you to too" Harry said confidently.

"Okay I won't get mad" Ron said.

"Okay yesterday at the cemetery we saw Malfoy there and when we left he went to Hermione's grave and apologized about everything and when he went home he had the same dream and he owled me this morning to meet him at Malfoy Manor which I did" Everyone just looked at Harry in shocked "When I was there he apologized to me too and I forgave him because he actually seems to have changed quite a lot, and he wishes to apologize to you as well. Anyway when I was there we discussed when Hermione was drilling us about him not being a death eater and it turns out she was right, like always, and we talked about how we don't think she's dead and is in serious trouble and needs our help. We don't know why she reached out to Malfoy but knowing Hermione she has a really good reason" Harry explained.

"So you want me to forgive the ferret and to get him to help us try and find someone who he was cruel and horrible to her whole school life?" Ron asked annoyed.

"No I'm not asking you to forgive him but when I am asking of you is to but our school rivalry behind you and help me and Malfoy to fine Hermione, help her and bring her back to us" Harry said in a mature manner.

"Merlin Harry, you will be the death of me one day, I swear" Ron sighed.

"So you'll do it?" Harry asked with a little enthusiasm.

"If it'll bring 'Mione back, I'll do anything but if he starts I will kill him" Ron said with a deathly tone.

"Of course" Harry smiled "We, me and you, need to go Malfoy manor now so we can think of somewhere we can start on this" Harry said making his way to the fireplace with Ron following shortly after behind him once he wrote to Luna that something big had come up and they needed to get out of town for a little while.

It was about 4 in the afternoon when Draco heard the floo go off in the entrance hall, as he made his way there he was curious as to who it would be but when he walked into the room he was stopped in surprised to see who his visitors were.

"Potter, Weasly? What you are you guys doing here?" Draco asked forgetting that he told Harry to bring Ron there if he had the same dream.

"You said to bring Ron here if he had the dream also, so I did, I should've owled but it was all rushed" Harry said sheepishly.

"No it's okay, so Weasly you've had the dream?" Draco asked.

"Yes I have and I must admit I thought I was losing my mind, I even started to read" Ron laughed which surprised not only Draco but Harry as well who gave Draco a confused look.

"Alright, so shall we go to the library and talk then?" Draco asked the two who nodded and followed down the hallways. When they were inside the room Draco called his elf Bubble and asked for some tea again. "So fellas what are we going to do?"

"I was thinking we dig up her grave tonight" Harry said with a little worry in his voice for how Ron would respond.

"I agree with Harry" Ron said shocking the other boys again.

"Are you two sure you two want to?" Draco asked concerted and was only answered by nodded from the two "Ok, so what time are we going?"

"How about we go at midnight?" Ron asked.

"Sure" Harry and Draco said in unison.

"So would you guys like to stay for dinner so we can discuss everything more thoroughly or are we going to wing it?" Draco asked.

"We can stay" Harry said after giving a nod to Ron.

"Brilliant, well I'll just go and let the house elves know that there will be two more at dinner, be back in a second" Draco said being leaving the room, leaving Harry and Ron to explore his library.

When he came back he found Harry with his nose in a book of the dark arts and Ron flipping through a Quidditch magazine.

"Not going dark on us Potter are you?" Draco asked playfully surprising the pair.

"You wish mate, I'm just researching a few things that might help us tonight and while trying to find Hermione" Harry said returning to his book.

"Alright, well you are always welcome here if you need anything" Draco said.

"Thanks mate" Ron said joining in the conversation, Draco nodded his reply.

"Well dinner will be ready in an a few hours so what shall we do in the mean time?" Draco asked.

"Still got your broom?" Harry asked.

"Of course, I'm guessing you two want to play Quidditch then?" Draco asked with his famous smirk.

"Of course" Ron said with his own smirk.

"Alright, let's go, I have a ton of spare brooms you can choose from and we can get a house elf to ref and score for us?" The boys nodded in response "Bubble"

_POP_

"Master Malfoy, Mister Potter, Mister Weasly" Bubble bowed to the three who all gave bows and smiles to the little elf.

"Winky I was wondering if you would like to do a small special job for us." Draco asked.

Bubble beamed at the chance to please his master and nodded her head "Bubble would love to"

"Excellent, would you be able to ref and scored for us while we play all on all quidditch?"

"Yes master Malfoy, Bubble would love to" the elf smile.

"Thank you Bubble" Draco smiled back and lead the way to the Quidditch field in his back yard.

The boys played Quidditch until a different elf came and announced that dinner was ready to be served and the boys all dismounted from their brooms and made their way inside and for dinner, with light conversation about Quidditch and funny times at Hogwarts.

Once everyone was finished eating they went to a small but cozy sitting room that had, silver walls with red carpet much to Harry and Ron's surprise.

"So Malfoy what's with all the red?" Ron asked sitting down on a red chair next to a small silver coffee table.

"Well red is my favourite colour" Draco said and receive shocked looks from the pair but he just laughed it off "I know it's the main Gryffindor colour but I've always like the colour red"

"The pretty funny since I like green" Harry said finding his voice and earning a light chuckle from Draco and Ron.

"Yeah I'm not saying my favourite colour" Ron added.

"Why cause its pink Ron?" Harry said trying to embarrassing his best friend and laughed again when he saw his face go the colour of his hair.

"Anyway back onto the main topic here" Ron said trying to change the topic with much success.

"Right, so we're going to apparated to Hermione's grave and we're going to dig the coffin up with shovels?" Draco asked and got nodded in return "And once all that is done we're going to levitate the coffin out of the grave and then see if she's in there and if not we are going to go and find her? How may I ask do we start finding someone who is meant to be passed for the past year?" Draco added.

The three sat in thought for a few minutes, Ron stood up suddenly cause Draco and Harry to flinch "HOGWARTS" Ron shouted and getting confused looks from the two "Look it was Dumbledore who gave 'Mione the mission so there must be something in his office or he saved his memory and if he did we can look at it and see what her mission was and then we can start from there but I think that our best shot is knowing what she was meant to be doing" Ron said with confidence.

"Weasly that is a brilliant idea, I never knew you had that in you to be honest, no office" Draco said snapping out of his shock.

"Uh, thanks" Ron said sheepishly.

The three continued to discuss plans for both situations when the clock on the wall chimed, letting them know it was midnight.

"So are you two ready to see if your best friend in there or not?" Draco asked.

"Yes" They said in unison, Draco nodded and they left the manor through the front door and out the gates and apparated to Hermione's grave.

When they got there they didn't waste any time and started to dig up her grave the fastest and quietest they could manage. When they were finally able to levitate the coffin out, they all stopped and looked at it.

"I don't know anymore" Harry said with worry in his voice.

"Potter we need to do this or we've wasted all out time, this is the only way to get an answer and to start to maybe find her" Draco reasoned.

"Malfoy's right mate, it's the best thing we can do right now, but I want to know is if she isn't in there then where is she and why did she fake her death?" Ron stated trying to convince his best friend.

"I guess we'll find out in a moment" Draco said "Okay are you ready?" the boys nodded and all together they cast a non-verbal levitating charm on the coffin and placed it in the middle of them, with Draco and Harry on the left and Ron on the right.

They all took a few deeps breaths, Harry put his hand on the handle of the coffin door and just stood there for a moment reassuring him that this was the right thing to do.

He pulled the coffin lid up and all three gasped at what they saw.

**So that's chapter two done. If you review I'll upload faster.**


	3. The Truth

**Not As It Seems**

**Chapter 3:**

**The Truth**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter**

What they shocked them more than anything has ever shocked them was that there wasn't a body in the coffin but it wasn't empty expect a piece of parchment.

Harry grabbed the piece of parchment, unfolded it and read it out to everyone:

_Harry, Ron, Draco_

_Once you have realized that I'm not dead and faked it all, I will be far, far away and am hiding so you won't be able to find me but knowing my two best friends and my once enemy I know that you're all just as stubborn as I am and I know for a fact that you won't stop looking for me._

_I can't tell you about why I've been away for so long, just know that it's for my mission that Dumbledore himself gave to me the night before he died. He told me that if I had not completed my mission before my 21__st__ birthday that I need to go away and to fake my death so I did the day after I turned 21. I know that sending my patrons saying that I was bleeding to death because a death eater cursed me was really cruel but if you really believed me then you two are idiots… I'm meant to be the smartest witch of her age and I fought against Voldemort and one of his stupid followers is nothing for me…_

_I've gone away from everything to finish my mission and I will be back as soon as I can, I miss everyone. Can you tell them for me? Thanks guys._

_Draco this part is for you. After you visited me that day after you and the boys had a slight disagreement I kind of casted a charm on you to have a dream about me as well as Ron and Harry, don't worry I casted one on them too but I thought since you don't like me too well I'd let you know cause I don't think the other two would mind too much… anyway I wanted you to help Harry and Ron because I know how smart you are and got all O's in school as well and they will need you and you will need them so no arguing with each other okay? Good. One more thing. I forgive you._

_Love Hermione Jean Granger_

_P.S. if you guys do find me don't be mad at the people I'm with._

The three of them didn't say anything for a long time but just kept rereading the parchment over and over again. Finally Draco couldn't take the silence anymore.

"She was there?"

"Apparently, but what I want to know is who the hell is she with?" Ron shouted.

"Mate calm down, it's Hermione and she was right, we are idiots for think that a death eater killed her, she's brilliant behind a wand Ron and everyone knows how resourceful she is so we really shouldn't have believed that…" Harry said trying to calm down Ron.

"You're right, merlin we are so stupid" Ron sighed.

" I don't know, she was known for always being honest, I must say I would have believed her as well but you two are missing the most important thing here of all" Draco said.

"What's that?" Harry asked puzzled.

"She's alive, Granger is alive" Draco said with a smile which quickly faded "We need to go to Hogwarts now"

"Yeah we do, but how about we go in the morning, how would you like to stay at my place guys?" Harry asked the other two who both nodded..

They apparated to Harry's 4 bedroom apartment, Harry gave them a quick tour and then they all settled in their own rooms for a good's night rest before they head off the hogwarts in the morning.

After a restless sleep for all three of them, they decided to go straight to Hogwarts and skip breakfast. When they arrived at Hogwarts they waited for Harry to send his patrons to Professor McGonagall who took over Headmistress ever since Dumbledore was killed. It was a few minutes before the professor came to the gates and unlocked it for the boys.

"Mr. Potter, Mr. Weasly, Mr. Malfoy, good to see you're all well" Professor McGonagall greeted them.

"Professor" They all greeted back.

"So what is it that you need Mr. Potter?" McGonagall asked when they came into the entrance hall.

"Well professor it's actually about Hermione" Harry answered and became nervous when McGonagall's face became to pale "Professor? Is everything alright, you look like you're going to faint?" Harry asked in a panic.

"Oh, I'm fine but I didn't think that you all would figure it out so soon" McGonagall answered once she regained her bearings "Well, please follow me to my office, I think you should see something"

They all made their way up to the Headmistress's office and the three boys took a seat in front of Professor McGonagall's desk.

"Professor, what do you know about this?" Ron asked quietly.

"Oh Mr. Weasly, I know everything about Miss Grangers mission that Albus had given her" McGonagall answered with a polite tone "But I know you all want answers" McGonagall paused and waited for a response from the three but was only answered with eager eyes "Well Hermione was meant to find a way to block the killing curse, become an animgus and also there one other thing but the memory was altered so I don't know what else she has to do but I know that it is quite difficult to complete all three" McGonagall explained.

"So what has she completed so far?" Draco asked.

"Well Mr. Malfoy, I receive a letter from her every few months explaining her progress but she has only mastered the animgus task and the unknown task has been successful but the killing curse block hasn't been so successful just yet" McGonagall said with a sad sigh "But when she does complete them, she can come back and help the Wizardry World for the better_"_

"Do you know where she is Professor?" Harry asked.

"Sadly I don't, she is always on the move, there are a lot of people who are after her for her skills and you know about the death eaters wanting revenge on you Mr. Potter and the rest of the people who stood against Voldemort"

"WHAT? WHY IS SHE OUT THERE ALL ALONE IF PEOPLE ARE AFTER HER AND WHY AREN'T YOU SENDING PEOPLE TO PROTECT HER AND HELP HER?" Ron shouted.

"Ron, you shouted isn't going to help now calm down" Harry said putting a hand on his best mates shoulder before turning back to McGonagall "Professor, in her coffin she said that we shouldn't get mad at the people she's with, who is she with?"

"Oh, yes, Mr. Malfoy you would know them quite well. They came to school here and were in your year also but I am unable to give you their names because they are on the run from death eaters as well"

"Wait, Professor were they in Slytherin with me?" Draco asked.

"Yes they were"

"Are they Blaise Zabini and Theodore Nott?"

McGonagall raised an eyebrow at him "Yes. Their all safe at the moment, if they're in trouble they would send word straight away, so they are fine" McGonagall reassured him but he only nodded.

"Can we see the memory Professor?" Harry asked trying to get back onto subject.

"Of course, this way" McGonagall said, gesturing for them to follow them to another room where the Pensieve was placed in the middle of a room that was dimly lit and had no paintings on the walls "Here you go boys" McGonagall said pulling a small vial that had a silver hair like memory in the vial and handed it to Harry.

After a moment of staring at the vial Harry finally poured the memory into the Pensieve and all the boys put their faces in to view the memory.

_When they were looking inside the memory they felt like they were falling in a never ending pit but it thankfully stopped._

_They were in the headmaster's office again but Professor Dumbledore was pacing by the fire place behind his desk. There was a soft knock on the door and Dumbledore turned and called them in. When the oak door opened walked in Hermione in her schools robes and her hair up with a few strains falling losing around her face to frame it._

"_Ah, Miss Granger, just the person I wanted to see" Dumbledore said with a smile._

_Hermione returned the smile and asked "Is everything okay Professor?"_

"_I'm afraid not my dear" Dumbledore said sitting down in his chair "Chocolate frog?" Dumbledore offered her._

"_No thank you sir" Hermione said politely._

"_Okay, Miss Granger you know you know that we are in a very dark time at the moment and I believe you are familiar with the order?" Dumbledore asked._

"_Yes sir" _

"_Good, I have a very, very, very important mission for you that has three task involved, if you accept I will tell you what they are"_

_Hermione stayed silent for a moment trying to decide what the tasks were but gave in to her curiosity "I accept"_

"_Excellent but I must tell you know that no one is to know of these tasks I'm giving you, they are to never be told to anyone and that includes Mr. Potter and Mr. Weasly, is that understood?" Dumbledore asked, Hermione just nodded her reply "Good, the first task I would like you to complete is to become an animgus but you will not be able to register until all three are completed and mastered, so you will be about to go back and forth without anyone knowing it is you, I also believe that is the easiest task I am giving you and knowing you're amazing brain you have, you'll pick it up in a flash"_

"_Thank you sir, what are the other two tasks?" Hermione asked._

"_I want you to create a spell to block the killing curse, again I believe you are very capable of completing this task as well" Dumbledore paused to let his words sink in before continuing "And the very last test is the most difficult of all and you will be working with 2 others to master this task"_

"_Who will I be working with sir?" Hermione asked curiously._

"_You will be working Blaise Zabini and Theodore Nott from the Slytherin house, because they have both mastered this task I am also giving you. Before you start panicking about them being death eaters, they are spies for the order" Dumbledore said like he knew what she was about to protest._

"_Of course, sir what is the last task?" Hermione asked._

"_I would like you to master-_

Before Dumbledore could finish his sentence the memory ended and the boys pulled their heads out of the pensieve.

"It just ends there? What was the other task! Dammit!" Ron cried out in anger.

"At least we know who she's with, so that's a start. Isn't it?" Draco asked.

"It is and it's all we got" Harry answered as they walked out the room and back to Professor McGonagall "Thank you Professor, we must be leaving now. We will be in contact if we find her"

"Very well, be careful and be safe. Goodbye boys"

"Goodbye professor" the boys said in unison.

As they left the headmaster's office Harry turned to Draco "What did Zabini and Nott master?"

Draco stopped walking and stared into the distance for a few minutes before speaking again "I have no idea! But I know it has to do with magic, a special kind of magic"

"You don't think its wandless magic do you? I remember Hermione reading a book about the very few witches and wizards that know how to use the difficult skill" Ron asked.

Draco just looked at him in shock. "Weasly you are a genius!" Draco almost shouted.

"Um… thanks?" Ron said.

"Malfoy do you have any books on wandless magic in your library at home?" Harry asked Draco as if he had an idea.

"Of course I do, why?" Draco asked.

"Because if you and Ron go back and look at some to get some information then I will go back to my place and see if Hermione left some there when she lived with me" Harry said grinning.

"Alright, come on Weasly, oh we're going to look in the school library before we go back so just we'll just meet back at my library?" Draco added.

"Yeah sure, see you two soon" Harry said before running down the hall.

Once Harry was out of sight Draco and Ron made their way to the school's library and searched for some books on wandless magic and came across only one book. With the make charming faces on and with the kindest words they could think of they ended up getting Madam Pince to allow them to take the books back to the manor for research on wandless magic.

Once they arrived back at Malfoy Manor they found Harry seated in the library with several books in front of him and one in his hand. He didn't notice the other two until they were seated opposite of him; he looked up and said "I'm not resting until I know she's okay!"

"It's okay mate, we're gonna help" Ron told them.

"I'm guessing you two want to stay and research all night?" Draco asked.

"If it's okay with you" Harry said sheepishly.

"Of course, you two are welcome whenever you like. I'll go prepare some rooms for you both" With that Draco got out and went a prepared two rooms.

Harry and Ron were sitting there flipping through the books they had when Harry had a thought "Ron, how did Malfoy know that Zabini and Nott was with Hermione?"

"I don't know… we should ask him when he gets back" Ron said nonchalance.

When Draco walked into the room he found Harry and Ron how in deep conversation about where to start looking for her when Harry noticed Draco walking back into the room "Malfoy, how did you know Zabini and Nott was with Hermione?"

"Because Blaise has been missing the exact amount of time as Granger has been so I just connected the two. Why's that?" Draco asked.

"We were just wondering is all, now where do you think we should start looking for 'Mione?" Ron asked

"How about we look for places that are full of forests and near small wizard and muggle villages so nobody would know them there?" Draco suggested.

"That is a really good idea and I also think that we should go to all the places me, Ron and Hermione went to, when we were looking for the horcruxes" Harry added.

"I agree, how about we go to bed now since we've been in here researching for hours now and tomorrow we'll leave to go looking for her?" Ron suggested.

"Good idea. Okay follow me to your rooms. There are spare clothes in there and you both have a bathroom that is connected to your rooms and my room is just up the hall from your rooms" Draco told when while showing them their rooms.


	4. Surprise Mudblood

**Not As It Seems**

**Chapter 4**

**Surprise Mudblood**

It was close to 3 in the morning and she's been sitting awake crying, like most nights. It had been the hardest year for her, it felt like she was been forgotten by everyone but that was the idea of faking her own death so that they could forget her and not distract her with silly little things.

Over the past year she had become close to Blaise Zabini and Theodore Nott that now they have become inseparable. They would do everything together, even if they could go places on their own but they always went together. Theo would always say that there's safety in numbers but Blaise and Hermione knew he just wanted to be with them. They had become a like a little family together, always moving around together and training together.

Even with Blaise and Theo being with her she would still miss everyone back home, from Ron nagging her to go on a date with her, Harry begging for her to duel him since he could never win against her and disarm her, or even Ginny and her boy talks about who has become good looking since school. She missed everything about them, even when they annoyed her. She would do anything she could to see them or hear their voices, which is why for a couple weeks she'd been putting little hints for them to come and find her.

Ever since she'd taking over their dreams she knew that they'd come find her and make up with Draco just so they can find her.

She had been too busy in her own thoughts that she didn't notice someone come and sit next to her and take her in his strong arms trying to calm her down, but only made her cry harder.

After she had realized where she was, she sat up straight and shocked the person whose arms were around her in a protective manner. When she looked up she came face to face with a dark skinned boy whose hair was growing a little out of control. The eyes that met hers were a deep dark brown, nothing like their warm chocolate eyes. He had a long scar along his forehead from when they were first on the run and came across a few death eaters that were after her.

"I'm sorry, did I wake you again? I did put up a silencing charm this time" Hermione said with a shuttered breath.

"No you didn't wake me up, the silence woke me up, I'm used to hearing you cry in your room around this time of night and coming in to comfort you but tonight I didn't hear anything so I got a little worried. It sort of came our night time routine I guess" Blaise Zabini said with a slight chuckled, which caused Hermione to gain a small smile on her heart shaped face.

"Well, I am so glad that you love out late night sulking session" Hermione managed to giggle.

"Oh I do, it tells me that you're still you and alive" Blaise said with a wink.

"Is Theo asleep?"

"No, I'm right here" Theo said from the doorway with a tray of tea for the three of them "Thought that we could use some tea to calm down so I got some ready"

"Thank you Theo" Hermione smiled taking a cup of warm tea from him "So what are you two going to make me do tomorrow?" Hermione asked trying to get away from the topic of her crying.

"We aren't getting you to do anything tomorrow" Blaise said joining in the conversation.

"What? Why not? I need to practice! I still can't get it and I need to practice as much as I can until I can't anymore and I still can!" Hermione almost yelled.

Theo and Blaise just laughed at her frustration "Well we're not making you do anything tomorrow because you've mastered become an animgus ages ago and you've perfected wandless magic, so we thought" Theo said gesturing to Blaise and himself "That we teach you how to handle a sword. What do you say to that?"

"I said you're insane and will probably end up either dead or have a loss of a limb" Hermione laughed.

"Oh is that so?" Blaise asked and continued when Hermione nodded "Well if you're so confident then prove it right now outside?" he challenged knowing she couldn't turn a challenge down.

Hermione didn't say anything but just got off the bed and kneeled on the floor and began to search for something from under her bed. When she came back up she had something in her hand that caused both boys to go into shock and stare at long silver blade with a pure gold handle that had rubies on the side.

"Where did you get that Hermy?" Theo asked looking from the sword to, up to her and back down at the sword.

"Well, remember that day when I had a massive fit at you two for something really stupid and I packed a few things up and left for the day?" she paused to see if the boys were listening and when they nodded she told them the rest "So that day I was walking in the forest we were in and I came down to this river that was near us and there was an old man who was lying there dead on the river bed with the sword sticking out of his stomach

"I didn't know he was dead so I ran over and searched for a pulse and didn't find one. I felt really unsafe and had a feeling that I was being watched and when I turned around there were several death eaters trying to surround me so I took the sword out of the old man's stomach and used it to kill all the death eaters. It was a lot easier than I ever thought it would be. After they were all dead I cleaned the sword and put it into my beaded bag and came back. Which is also why I was so dirty and bloody that day" Hermione stopped to let the story sink in with boys before saying "I'm really sorry I never told you guys but I didn't think it matter and I never thought that I'd need it again and I don't want to use sticks for this training"

"At least we know you can defiantly take care of yourself now. Why did you hide the sword? It's not like we come in here a lot" Theo asked.

"You might but he does" Hermione said pointing the Blaise who had a famous Malfoy smirk on his face "Don't do that face Blaise, you don't look charming" Hermione teased with her own smirk which caused Theo to laughed.

"Okay anyway, shall we go and see what you got then Herms?" Blaise asked trying to get away from where the conversation was going.

"Yeah sure" she said as she got up and led the way outside of their small abandoned cottage that had a straw roof that had a few holes, the walls were made from stones of all sizes but the hardest part about being in the small abandoned cottage was that it brought back old memories from the night from where she was almost blown into little piece when Bellatrix Lestrange blew Hagrids hut into flames.

When she opened the front door a gust of cold wind blew her thoughts away and took her position five meters in front of Theo who had his own sword and ready for fight.

"Are you really Theo?" Hermione winked.

"I think you should asked yourself that" he said as he slide to her side and tried to hit her in the leg but was blocked by the fasted reaction he's seen anyone do.

As their swords connected Hermione brought his sword up and began to use his own strength against him until he was kneeling on the ground and fighting as hard as he could so that Hermione's sword wouldn't slice through his shoulder or face.

During the fight Blaise was sitting on the sidelines waiting for the right moment to go and attack Hermione as well but he was now having second's thoughts because she took Theo down in less than five seconds.

In a few swish movements Theo was on his back, his sword in Hermione's free hand and her sword point at his Adams apple. She's taken him down and stole his sword in a matter of seconds. "So, think I can handle a sword?" Hermione said while helping Theo back up and handing his sword back to him. At that moment Blaise thought it was be the perfect time to attack when she wasn't prepared and distracted.

He went to lung at her but Hermione had her guard up and just pushed Theo out the way to see Blaise land in the dirt face first. Hermione and Theo burst into laughing and landed on the ground either side on Blaise who was glaring at the two but joined in after a moment.

Once all the laughing died down Hermione spoke "Blaise there no point in sneaking up on me, the war taught me to always have my guard up no matter what and you were really loud with your footsteps, you should work on that"

"Where did you learn how to move like that?" Theo asked.

"When Harry, Ron and myself went looking for all the horcruxes during seventh year we found the sword of Gryffindor-"

"But didn't Longbottom have it at the final battle?" Blaise interrupted.

"Yes but that is because the sword of Gryffindor will present itself to any worthy Gryffindor at the time they would need it" Hermione explained "Well we had the sword of Gryffindor and used it to destroy the horcruxes we had at the time but we lost it but before we lost it I learnt how to use a sword. Harry would say a charm that would create an opponent for me to learn, they just happen to be death eaters with wands. It only took a couple of tries until I got the hand of it and came up with some moves and then we got attacked by real death eaters… if it wasn't for me we'd all be dead" Hermione said with a tear starting to roll down her face.

"Hey, it's okay Hermy, you're safe with us, we've been attacked so many times and we still don't know why but we always end up okay" Theo said trying to comfort her.

"It's not us being attack and I need to talk to you two about that later but not now, I'm so upset because I feel like everyone I knew in my past life before all this have all forgotten me. I feel so alone, I know you two are here and I love you both for that but I still miss Harry, Ron and I even miss Draco" Hermione said before she burst into tears for the second time that night.

"Wait, Draco? Why on earth do you miss Draco?" Blaise asked in confusion. She was glad that she could finally come clean about Draco.

"Well, I, I guess t-that we k-kind of did i-it…" Hermione stuttered.

"WHAT?" both Blaise and Theo shouted "WHEN?"

"Sixth year, he was drunk in the room of requirement when I went there for some personal time and some training. He was really nice to me and I was so stressed out with NEWT's and my mission that when he asked me to join him with drinking I didn't turn him down and then we got too drunk and it just happened… I obliviated his memory the next morning so he'd never know but he would always look at me differently like he knew something but didn't know what that was" Hermione quickly explained but leaving a few important things out.

Blaise and Theo just started at her like they didn't know her until Theo was the first to find his voice again "Hermione Jean Granger" when he said this Hermione knew she was in trouble so she took a few steps away from the boys trying to find all the best exit points to run and hide from them "I never expected the know-it-all, goody-two-shoes Gryffindor to have that in her" Theo said with a laugh knowing what was going through her head.

"What?" Hermione asked confused.

"To be honest and not to be rude or mean but I always thought you were too innocent for that kind of stuff and expectably with the Slytherin sex god"

"Oh, well yeah, I'm not that inno-"Hermione started until she heard an ear piercing shriek from somewhere in the forest that surrounded their small abandoned cottage. Hermione was panicking and looking around everyone trying to make sense of the direction of where the scream had come from that she didn't realize that Blaise and Theo had made their way to Hermione within seconds and were pushing her behind them trying to protect her from whatever was out there.

"Well look what we have here, two traitors and a mudblood" Came a voice from behind them. When they all turned around they were shocked to see Lucius Malfoy standing just a few meters in front of them with that famous Malfoy smirk on his pale face.

"Lucius Malfoy? You're dead? I saw you died!" Hermione said after a few moments of silence.

"Yes I'm meant to be dead but so are you, so this is a wonderful surprise that I just had to see for myself" He said coldly.

"Well now you know, now you get lost" Hermione spat as she took a step forward showing him she wasn't afraid of him anymore.

"Well Miss Granger you've gained a foul attitude haven't you" He said stepping so they were inches apart and that stupid smirk never leaving his face.

"Oh no, I've always had it but now since I have filth in front of me, then it comes out just like that" Hermione whispered while snapping her fingers.

"How dare you speak to me like that you filthy little mudblood" Lucius snapped as he went to hit him but was stopped by Hermione's hand who grabbed his hand with hers and stepped closer to him to look him right in his eyes. While this was going on Blaise and Theo had their wands out to strike the death eaters or Lucius if Hermione needed.

"Don't you ever raise your hand to someone who might be more powerful then you Lucius" Hermione said calmly as she began to squeeze his hand as hard as she could. She knew that she was squeezing really hard from the look of pain on his face and she could feel the bones in his hand begin to snap and break. "And I believe you just did so" She added as he fell to his knees from the pain.

"Hermione that's enough" Blaise said trying to get Lucius hand out from hers but it was impossible.

"So what are we going to do with you Lucius?" Hermione spat as she threw him on his back and stepped forward to look down her nose at him and watched him trying and back away from her "We could let you go but if we do that then you will just keep coming back like you have been doing for the past year now, or we can just stop you right here and right now"

This time Theo tried to get her away from Lucius. He grabbed her arm and tried to pull her back to him and Blaise but she didn't budge. He tried to enter her mind and try and convince her to let him go but she had a mind block so he couldn't get through to her in any way. At that moment she pulled out his sword and pointed it at his chest.

"HERMIONE!" this time she looked up to see who was calling her name and looked behind her to see that Blaise and Theo were staring at her with fear written on their faces "Stop this now, he isn't worth it" Blaise tried to reason.

Hermione looked at them confused and look back to the ground to see that she was pointing her silver and gold sword at Lucius Malfoy's chest about to strike him dead. She quickly put her sword away and stepped back to the boys and she noticed all the death eaters slowly backing away from her as they came and picked Lucius up and left without another sound.

"What was that?" Theo asked still a little frightened of Hermione "Because when you look at us your eyes were red not brown and you looked terrifying"

"I don't know… I can't remember anything that just happened" Hermione staring at the ground "All I remember before everything went black on me was someone screaming"

"No one screamed Herms" Blaise said looking at Hermione with concern "We saw death eaters coming into sight so we pushed you behind us to protected you and when Malfoy came out you stepped forward and your eyes were red"

"Wait did you say that there wasn't someone screaming and my eyes were red? Was I going to kill someone?" Hermione asked quickly.

"Um, yeah? You went to kill Lucius before you snapped out of your trance, why?" Theo asked.

"Oh my Merlin" Hermione gasped as she ran back into the house. The two boys looked at each other and raced inside to see what was going on with Hermione. When they came inside that found her searching through all her books that were in the main room they shared.

"What's going on Hermione?" Theo asked a little quietly.

"I think he put me under a spell before we saw him and the death eaters" Hermione said as she started flipping through a thick book that looked like it was as old as the cottage "Yes, I was right; I was under the '_kinsfor astentim'_ curse. It says here that the caster can control the other persons mind and tell them to kill anyone who they choose and I guess he chose himself, but why?" Hermione said the last bit mainly to herself.

"Well me and Theo have been talking" Blaise said waiting for Hermione too look up, when she did he continued "Their not after me and Theo anymore but what their after is you and you alone. We don't know why but every time they find us and attack us they don't try and kill us but try and stun us. They either need something from you or they need you for something" Blaise stated.

"I know" Hermione said quietly.

"What do you mean you know?" Theo asked a little louder than when he spoke before.

"I know they're after me, I know what they want from me and I've known they've been following us. That's why they've been able to find us so easily and get into our wards so quickly" Hermione said sitting down.

"Is that what you didn't want to tell us earlier outside?" Blaise asked Hermione just nodded "Why didn't you tell us when you knew? What do they want from you?"

"They want to use me as bait to get Harry and Ron to come to them and they also want me to over for their precise Voldemort"

"WHAT?" Blaise and Theo screamed "Are they insane?" Theo added.

"I think so, they've been trying to capture us and use you two as bait so I would accept but if I didn't they still wouldn't kill you because of both of your skills and then they would go and find Harry, Ron and Draco and kill them if I refused again" Hermione said with unshed tears in her eyes.

"How do you know all this?" Theo asked as he and Blaise sat across from her.

"They don't call me the brightest witch of her age for nothing now do they?" Hermione said with a weak laugh.

"Ok, you might not like this but we need to go to hogwarts. We need to see Professor McGonagall about all this and see what she says?" Blaise asked.

"I was thinking that we would need to go their sooner or later so sooner is good" Hermione said "We'll leave soon" she added as she walked to her room.

In her room she started to pack all the things they might need, extra wands, their swords, some books, potions and spare clothes for the three of them. She didn't know how long they would be gone so she packed for a couple days.

Once she was finished packing they left the cottage and walked outside the new wards the boys put up while Hermione was getting the things ready for their little trip and they all apparated to Hogsmeade.


	5. First Sight

**Not As It Seems**

**Chapter 5**

**First Sight**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter.**

The next morning Draco, Harry and Ron got everything ready at the Manor but needed a few more things that they could get in Hogsmeade. Once they apparated in front of a small book shop in Hogsmeade they went straight in looking for some books that might help them while they were away looking for Hermione and just some books for night reading.

Inside the small book shop there were six rows of book, five rows were wizard books and one row was full of muggle books. They search all six of the rows of books and only came out with seven books that they thought they might need. One was on dark magic; two were on animgus's, three on the different forests and such and two muggle location books as well.

Once they purchased their books they made were making their way to the popular quidditch shop to buy a new broom to make travelling easier but a bright pale blue light caught Harry's eye on the other end.

When he looked he saw three hooded figures just standing at the end of the road, the one on the left looked like they had a strong build, probably from quidditch, he was quiet tall but not as tall as the one on the right, he also looked like he had a strong build but had brooder shoulders. The one in the middle had his attention the most thought, he felt like he knew this person but he couldn't see their face. They was a lot shorter them the other two and the way he cloak blew around them made him think that the middle one was a girl and the other two were boys.

The middle one had her wand out and was muttering a spell and a bright pale blue light came out the tip of her wand and formed an otter. Harry knew the charm well, since he had to use it a lot during school and the war; it was a _Patronus _charm_. _After a few seconds the otter came dancing towards him and around his head and then disappeared to who was receiving the message it was carrying.

He didn't realized he was smiling to himself until he looked at where the three clocked people stood before and saw they were gone. He was about to go and see where they were until he heard his name and looked behind him and saw Ron and Draco making their way towards him.

"Where you going mate?" Ron asked as they reached him.

"Oh thought I saw some people I knew but their gone now" Harry said with a sad sigh.

"Who did you think you saw?" Draco asked.

"I don't know I just had a feeling that I knew them. I felt like I there was something that connected me to them, like something was pulling me towards them but I couldn't move" Harry said.

"Wait was there three in black cloaks with the hoods over their faces?" Ron asked.

"Yes there was… did you see where they went?" Harry asked.

"They're there, they just came out of that alley way" Draco said pointing at the three making their way towards them with their heads down and their wands in their hands.

When they were in front of them, the boys thought that they might stop but they didn't they just kept walking. Harry thought he heard the girl sob as she turned her head back around, when she did this he hood let a little light to come and show he face a little. It was still too dark to see her whole face but he could see her eyes perfectly, they were a warm chocolate brown that was filled with tears.

When he looked into her eyes his heart jumped to throat. She stopped walking and turned and faced him fully, never leaving his eyes. He could see fear, sorrow, desperation and pure happiness in her eyes. He went to take a step forward but the short one of the two guys she was with whispered something in her ear and she turned to him and started whispering harshly towards him. The other guy came and stood in front of her to block her view of Harry.

The taller of the two boys turned to Harry and apologized "Terribly sorry about this sir, our sister thought she knew you and your friends" He nodded to Harry and turned back to start walking to where ever they were going.

"WAIT!" Harry yelled, the three stopped but only the two guys turned around to face Harry, Ron and Draco were standing either side of Harry in case he need their help "Who are you three, I don't think I've seen you all around here before?"

"Oh, we're just passing through is all" The shorter one said.

"Wait a minute, I know you from somewhere" Draco said from Harry's left side.

"No I don't think you do sir, we're from France" The shorter one said with a little panic in his voice, which no one but Theodore Nott could have.

"Yes I do know you, we went to school together. Theo did you really think you could hide the panic in your voice from me?" Draco said a little cocky.

When Draco said this he noticed the girl raise her head and her body stiffened, she went to turn around and when she did the wind blew hard and blew her hood off her head to reveal and head full of soft auburn curls that fell around her shoulders and down her back up to her shoulder blades. He noticed her warm chocolate brown eyes fill with panic. She stood still for a moment before grabbing the two guy's arms and pulled them to her and yelled at them.

"BLAISE, THEO WE NEED TO GO NOW!" When Harry and Ron heard her they looked at her shock to see it was Hermione. She didn't look at them but started to run away from the group and towards hogwarts with Blaise and Theo following close behind her.

It took the boys a few seconds before they dropped their things and took off after them trying to catch them. When they were starting to catch up with them they turned and ran into the forbidden forest. Harry, Ron and Draco stopped at the edge of the forest, knowing the dangers that were in there and because they were too in shock to continue after them.

"Was that Hermione?" Harry asked after finding his voice.

"Yes it was" Draco answered him "But why is she here? And why did she run from us?" Draco added.

"I have no idea mate but I think we should go after her" Ron said.

"No its way too dangerous to go in there now, especially in our shock state" Harry said.

"I agree, plus the forbidden forest has become more dangerous since the war ended, all the old creatures that fled during the war have all come back with some extra creatures, all we can do is hope she is safe and try and plan out where she is going and where she is going next" Draco said with a knowing tone.

Before Harry could say something they heard a high pitched shriek that came from the forest, before Harry could think about was he was doing he ran into the forest and seconds later Draco and Ron followed him with their wands out, just in case.

Harry wasn't sure how long he was running for before he heard the shriek again but this time it was louder and it sounded like someone was screaming someone's name. This made Harry run even faster than before, almost losing Draco and Ron.

Harry stopped running when he got into a clearing and the sight that he saw made his blood run cold. On the ground there was Blaise and Theo covered in blood. Hermione was being pinned with a hand around her neck against a tree by what looks like a normal man but Harry knew it was something bad and probably evil.

"LET HER GO!" Harry screamed causing the man to jump around and see him, he let Hermione go and she slid down to the ground and pass out from the lack of oxygen from being strangled

"Look what we have here, another hero to kill for disturbing me from my prize" The man said with a wicked smile on his dark face, he was showing teeth. He had two extremely sharp teeth either side of the top of his mouth.

Harry knew at this moment that Draco and Ron had joined his side and saw the man's teeth and they all exchanged a look to see if they all knew that this man was a vampire.

"Why do you want her?" Draco asked, he looked at the man and then at Harry and have him a look only he caught on to, to tell him he had a plan.

"Tell me you wouldn't want this beauty" The vampire said picking Hermione's limp body up by her hair and pulling her into his arms so his hand was on her forehead and pulling her head back showing off her neck.

The three knew this scene from somewhere and they all knew where. It was when Harry, Hermione and Ron were captured during the war and brought to Malfoy Manor; Hermione was tortured by Bellatrix Lestrange and got _Mudblood _carved into her right arm.

The boys where brought back to reality when they heard Hermione whimper and sobbing "Please, please don't hurt them"

The vampire gave a cold laughed in Hermione's ear, "And let them go? I don't think so baby"

Hermione started to struggle in his arms when he whispered in her ear "If you let them go I'll go with you, I won't fight, I won't scream, I'll go with you if you don't hurt them" Hermione said loudly still struggling against him.

At this point Blaise was getting up from the ground and taking in the scene in front of him. He saw Draco, Harry and Ron with their wands pointed at the vampire who had a struggling, weak Hermione in his arms and Theo on the ground covered in blood like he was but still knocked out.

"Stop this now!" Blaise screamed trying to get everyone's attention "Get your filthy hands off of her you blood sucking parasite"

"Aw, well isn't that sweet, a boy trying to protect his love" The vampire said in a sickly sweet voice.

"You wouldn't know anything of love. Now let her go before I kill you with my bare hands" Came another voice from the other side of the vampire. When everyone looked to see who the voice was, they saw Theo holding a sliver sword with a pure gold handle.

"What are you going to do with that? It's not like you can kill me with that now" The vampire mocked him.

"He won't be doing anything with that sword cause I am" Hermione screamed and head butted the vampire in the nose, causing him to stagger backwards for a moment and letting Hermione to running a few meters in front of him, holding her right hand out to Theo who threw the sword to her.

The vampire just laughed at her "Well isn't this interesting, a little girl who plays with knifes trying to kill the undead. Please don't waste your time"

Hermione laughed at this and took a few steps towards the vampire grabbing the handle of the sword in both her hands and stared at the vampire. If looks could kill he would die slowly and painfully. "I wouldn't tempt me if I was you"

"Try your hardest; it should be f-"The vampire couldn't finish his sentence before being thrown back and being pressed against the tree by an invisible force. Everyone looked at Hermione knowing that she was the one who did it but they saw her wand in her pocket and both her hands on the handle of the swords.

"What were you saying" Hermione said with a smirk on her face. She didn't let the vampire speak before she lunged at him and sliced his head clean off her shoulders.

She looked behind her to see Blaise and Draco making their way to Theo to support him; it looked like his leg was broken. Before Hermione could say anything she was engulfed in a bone crushing hug from Harry who was sobbing into her hair "Harry?" Hermione asked.

"It's me 'Mione, it's me" Harry said still sobbing; at this point Hermione was hugging him back sobbing harder than he was.

She pulled back from him and looked over his shoulder and saw Ron looking at her like he'd seen a ghost. Before he could say anything Hermione jumped into him and wrapping her arms around his neck, she felt him snake his arms around her waist and pulled her even closer than before.

No one understood just how happy Hermione was to see her best friends again. When she pulled away from Ron she saw Draco staring at her in awe, she walked over to him and hugged him as well. Draco was taken aback by this but used his free arm to wrap around Hermione's small body.

When she pulled back she watch Blaise and Draco walk Theo over to a fallen tree and pull his pants leg up, the bone was sticking out of his shin. Blaise who wasn't that good at healing spells called Hermione over "Herms, I think it's best you do it; you won't make it any worse than it is now"

Hermione nodded and walked over to them "Lay him down flat on the ground and make sure he doesn't move because it will be painful" Hermione said holding his leg up gently while the boys lifted him up and laid him on the ground. Hermione knelt down next to him and started to caress his hair and spoke to him softly "Theo love, this is going to hurt a lot. I need you to stay as still as you possibly can; Blaise and Draco are going to hold you do so I can fix your leg okay?"

Theo just nodded and got himself ready for the pain that was about to come.

Hermione moved down to his leg and pulled out her wand and pointed it at the bone that was sticking out of his shin. She mumbled a little healing spell and the bone snapped back into his shin and back into place. While this happened Theo was screaming in pain but was still try to be a still as possible. Hermione then said another spell that closed the wound that was left on his leg, she knew that there would be a scar and Theo would love it, like he loved the rest of his scars. He always thought that of them as battle wounds and they all had a great story behind them.

Once Theo was all healed, Hermione told him to stay lying down for a while. She stood up and walked over to the fallen tree and sat down and put her head in her hands and sighed tiredly. Blaise walked over and kneeled in front of her and took her hands in his. Draco, Harry and Ron just watched in amazement of just how close the two of them have gotten. Harry and Ron started to feel guilty of not finding her or looking for her sooner.

"Hey, hey, hey, Herms it's okay, everything is okay now" Blaise said trying to sooth her troubled thoughts.

Hermione lifted her head and looked into his eyes and spoke softly "It's not okay Blaise, their still looking for me and I know that they send that thing after us to kill you and Theo so I would go to them and join them" Tear started to well up in her eyes.

"Who's looking for you?" Ron asked confused.

"It's complicated, I will explain everything once I get back" Hermione told them while standing up and picking up her beaded bag.

"Where are you going Hermy?" Theo asked sitting up looking worried.

Hermione looked at everyone one by one taking in their faces and expressions of worry "I need to finish my mission"

"ARE YOU CRAZY?" Blaise shouted at her "WE ALMOST DIED BECAUSE WE WEREN'T BEING CAREFUL AND YOU WANT TO LEAVE?"

"Yes Blaise, I'm sick of people dying and being hurt because of me, I'm sorry for everything" Hermione said sternly.

"If you were sorry you wouldn't just leave us like this! We've been through too much together this past year and we can't just let you go now! Dammit Hermione, you've only just seen your friends again after a year and you want to them again?" Blaise was now fuming.

"The last time I saw them was a week ago Blaise!" Hermione was now yelling too.

Harry and Ron were becoming more and more confused and Draco was having an inner battle with himself about joining in with the fight between his best mate and ex enemy.

"What do you mean? Wait that night when you snuck out and didn't come back for a day, you went a meet up with them? Hermione do you know how dangerous that was? We had no idea where you were! We were worried sick about you!" Theo started yelling while standing up with some struggle

"I didn't go and meet up with them Theo, no one knew I was there! I was watching them in the shadows before I left them my note! You know the note for them to come and fine us to help?" Hermione said calmly.

"Wait you've been watching us? All of us? How?" Draco asked.

"I'm a Multi-Ani" Hermione said looking at the ground, unable to look in anyone's eyes.

"What's a Multi-Ani?" Harry asked.

"It's an animagus who can change into more than one thing. I can change into anything I want, I was trying to master becoming a normal animagus but my brain was so focused in the war at the time that my mind couldn't think straight so every time transformed I turned into something new, I couldn't control it before but now I can" Hermione explained with a wide smile on her face, reminding Harry and Ron about the way she was in school.

"Can you show us?" Ron asked a little too excitedly.

Hermione laughed at his excitement and nodded and stepped into the middle of the clearing and began to crouch into a ball when she started to grow jet black fine hair, her hands were changed into paws and so were her feet. Her face became longer and her ears moved to the top of her head to form longer ears. A tail started growing a tail that was straight.

Once she finished transforming she stood up straight and stared Harry in the eye knowing he'd know what she changed into.

Harry's faced from amazement to realization "Sirius?" Harry asked.

Hermione just walked over to him and sat in front of him and rubbed her head on his hand a licked it. She stood again and walked back into to clearing to transform into something with a thin body and scales. She lost her arms and legs and she turned into a greeny brown.

"This is my favourite" Theo said with a smile as he watched Hermione turn into a snake.

Once the transformation was complete she turned around and slithered towards Theo and he picked her up and put her on his shoulders and started to stroke her scales.

"That is amazing!" Draco said quietly so no one could hear him, but Hermione did and she looked at him before turning into a bold eagle and flying over to Draco and landed on his shoulder and started to peck at his hair in a playful matter.

Watching the way Hermione was giving Draco affection caused Theo and Blaise gave each other a knowing look that was caught by Hermione's eyes. She flew back into the clearing and before she landed on the ground and she turned back into her human form and spun around and glared at Blaise and Theo.

The boys just cracked up laughing and Hermione rolled her eyes before giggle along with them.

Draco, Harry and Ron looked at each other confused before Harry spoke up "What's so funny?"

"Oh nothing Potter, just me and Theo know how Hermione feels about-" Blaise started but was shushed by Hermione.

"Blaise shut up! They don't need to know that just yet"

"Fine Herms, but you better tell them soon"

"I know! Anyway can we go to Hogwarts now? I'm quiet tired and I want to get back to the cottage to sleep, I still haven't slept because of what happened this morning!" Hermione said with a yawn.

"Yeah we're coming, you three want to come along and then back to where we're staying?" Theo asked Draco, Harry and Ron.

"Uh, yeah sure" Harry said on behalf of the other two.

The six of them started walking back to leave the forbidden forest, Hermione was walking behind everyone and was walking really slowly, so lost in her own thoughts that she was falling behind everyone.

Draco turned his head to see if Hermione was still following them and saw she was staring at the ground walking rather slowly. He decided to stop to and wait for her, signaling the others to keep walking.

When Hermione was about to walk into Draco he grabbed her shoulders causing her to jump backwards and trip over a root that was growing out of the ground and landed on her back.

Draco tried not to laugh as he helped her up "Are you alright Granger?" Draco asked.

"Yes, I'm fine and no one calls me that anymore" Hermione said with a frown.

"That's because no one knows you're alive and I didn't mean to scare you" Draco added.

Hermione nodded and looked back at the ground. Draco grabbed her chin with his fingers to make her look at him "What's on your mind?"

"I just feel so bad about everything I've done to everyone; I mean did you see how upset Harry was when he saw me back there? He was crying on my shoulder!" Hermione sighed sadly.

"You did what you had to do to protect the ones you love; I know what it's like. Trust me on that one" Draco tried to comfort her.

Hermione looked up and looked into him eyes and let a single tear fall down her cheeks, Draco wiped it away before she spoke "I wasn't protecting them…"

"Who were you protecting then?" Draco asked curiously.

Before Hermione could answer, Theo came over "Is everything alright back here? We were almost out when we notice you two weren't follow so I came to find you" He said with worry in his voice

"Oh, uh, yeah, um lets go then" Hermione said thankful she didn't have to answer Draco.

When they were on the edge of the forbidden forest Hermione put a glamor charm on Blaise, Theo and herself. Blaise's hair grew to his shoulders and became a bleach blonde colour, his skin became a few shades lighter and his deep brown eyes became green like Harry's. Theo's black long hair became short and a light brown, his pale skin became a tanned colour and his blue eyes became a warm chocolate brown like Hermione's. Hermione's calm, short, wavy auburn hair became long, straight and black, her warm chocolate eyes became almost black and her skin became a dark brown colour.

Everyone looked at her in shock, "What?" She asked the boys.

"Uh, nothing, just never expected you to look like that before, you suit the dark eyes" Theo said sheepishly.

"Thank you" Hermione said blushing "Okay lets go, Professor McGonagall is probably becoming very worried that we're not there already" Hermione said walking out of the forest and towards hogwarts with all the boys following her.


	6. The Show

_**Not As It Seems**_

_**Chapter 6**_

_**The Show**_

**Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter**

The six walked up to the Hogwarts gate and stopped not sure how to get in but Hermione didn't stop and walked up to the gates. She pulled her wand out of her pocket in her cloak and tapped it on the gate three times while mumbling a small charm that the boys have never heard. To the surprise to the boys the gates opened and Hermione just walked in without looking at back the boys or pocketing her wand.

After staring at Hermione's back in awe the boys started to run to catch up to Hermione who had a smirk on her face knowing what look was on all the boys' faces.

When they got to the giant oak doors of the entrance to the castle they came across a few weird looks from people who were wonder why two wars heroines were with an ex-death eater but the looks from the students were put into place when Hermione glared at them and they all scampered away earning some sniggers from boys.

When they arrived at Professor McGonagall's office, Hermione whispered the password to the gargoyle.

"_Whiskers" _When the gargoyle began to move and show stairs Hermione jumped onto them and run up the stairs, once she was up the top she didn't bother knocked on the door and run straight up to the professor and gave her a big hug who gave one back happy to see her former student once again safe. Even with the glamour charm McGonagall knew exactly who it was.

"Oh, Hermione it's so good to see you again and safe and unharmed!" The Professor expressed her happiness.

Hermione smiled at her and removed her glamor charm and spoke to her former Professor "Thank you, it's so good to see you Professor but I'm not completely safe or unharmed" Hermione said with a sadness in her tone as she rolled up her right sleeve to show her the bruises and cuts that engulfed her skin.

"Oh my, what happened? Who did this child?" McGonagall said full of worry.

The boys had been in the room since Hermione had removed her glamor charm. Once they saw her arm Blaise and Theo walked to her side, worry written all over their faces.

"Hermione, where did you get all these bruises and cuts?" Blaise asked trying to remain calm.

"In the forbidden forest and that's not all and you all won't like it" Hermione said no looking into his eyes as she pulled her hair away from her neck to revile two small puncher wonders.

"The vampire?" Theo asked already knowing the answer but wishing it wasn't. Hermione just nodded

McGonagall just rushed the portrait of Professor Snape who had been watching the whole scene with a grim look on her face. He personally thought that she was dead.

"Severus is there a cure to stop the spread of the poison?" McGonagall asked rushed.

"Yes, but you must act very fast the poison is spreading already from the looks of her paling skin and her eyes looking glazed, you much give her the potion _Vampesement _and now! Albus used to keep in that cabinet, it's a blood red colour" Snape said pointing at a cabinet that was close to Draco "HURRY!"

Draco opened the cabinet and found the blood red colour potion almost instantly, he grabbed it and run to Hermione who was sweating and twitching and violently shaking from the poison. As she went to fall to the ground due to lack of balance, Theo caught her, Blaise opened her mouth as Draco poured the potion down her throat hoping that it would work in time.

Once she swallowed the potion she stopped shaking but still twitching, at this point Harry and Ron ran over and crouched next to her checking her pulse and her temperature. Harry gave to relieved sign when he found her pulse was gaining strength.

"Is she going to be okay?" Theo asked to anyone.

"She should be she just needs rest now. She should wake up back to her old self in the morning" Snape said trying to comfort his former student the best he could "May I ask one question?" Snape asked the boys.

They all looked at each other and nodded "What would you like to know" Blaise asked.

"Since when have you three cared about Miss Granger here?" He asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Umm… Well me and Hermione kind of dated in sixth year in secret cause we were in different house and because of the war" Theo said blushing.

"WHAT?" Harry, Ron, Draco, McGonagall and Snape all said in unison. Blaise was the only one who knew so he just laughed at everyone's reaction.

"Calm down you lot, they aren't together anymore. Anyway back on with the story of why I care about her, Theo and I were given a mission from Dumbledore before he died to help Herms to create a blocking spell from the _Killing Curse_, become a master of the animgus; which we need to speak to you about that professor, something amazing happened" Blaise said directing the last bit at McGonagall who nodded, wanting to know the rest of the mission "And me and Theo are meant to train Herms in _wandless magic" _Blaise finished.

"Wandless magic? 'Mione knows wandless magic? That is bloody brilliant" Ron grinned at his best friend who was still pasted out on the floor.

"Yes and I must say she is stronger than Blaise and myself put together, she always wins in duels; even when it's two against once" Theo pouted.

"Always knew she was a strong witch but never this strong, it is indeed quiet impressive" Snape complimented.

"Thanks Professor, never thought I'd ever hear a compliment from you as long as I live" Hermione said coming to.

"Well I have always admired you Miss Granger, but since you weren't sorted in my house I didn't show you any respect, I apologize for this but I have always had a great respect for you" Snape said shocking everyone in the room but the portrait of Dumbledore and Hermione who was grinning like a little school girl.

"Thank you Professor, I accept your apology and would also like to apologize for breaking into your private store room and stealing some ingredients in second year" Hermione said sheepishly.

"That was you?" Snape said shocked, earning a small giggle from Hermione.

"Maybe I was meant for Slytherin after all" Hermione said winking at the three former Slytherins, earning glares from Harry and Ron and small chuckles from Dumbledore, Snape and McGonagall.

"Oh Hermione, you always know how to brighten the day, don't you my dear?" Dumbledore said with a slight chuckle in his voice.

"Of course" Hermione said with a smirk that could match Draco's any day.

"Oh, I almost forgot, you wanted to talk to me about the animagus transformations?" McGonagall asked them.

"Oh, yes. Let Hermione show you what I mean by something amazing happened" Theo said who winked at Hermione before leaning in a whispering in her ear "Show them a magical creature, try and put them in shock like you did with me and Blaise, if you do I will give you 50 gallons? Deal?"

Hermione pretended to think of what Theo said as he moved back and studied her face, earning weird looks from everyone in the room. "Deal" Hermione said finally and put her hand out for Theo to shake and help her up. "Okay guys you might want to move back, it's going to be a good show" Hermione said while ginning.

Once everyone was on the edges on the room Hermione went to center of a clear area and crouched down while growing feathers on her top half of her body and fur and a lions tail. Her arms took the shape of a bird's leg but a lot thicker and stronger, her legs became the shape of a lions back legs. She started grow beautiful white wings on her back while her face became the head on a bold eagles. Once she finished transforming she looked at everyone one at a time taking in their faces.

Theo walked forward and put his hand on the side of Hermione's neck and started to stroke her feathers before speaking "Ready for shifting in the air?"

"In the air? What do you mean in the air?" Harry asked worried.

"You'll see Potter" Blaise added chuckling "Shall we go outside then?" he added gesturing towards the door.

"Yes, okay Hermione, I'm going to open the window so you can fly down and not scare the life out of the students and you can meet up down by Hagrids hut?" Theo told her who received a nodded as she started to walk towards the window, Theo opened it for her and when he got it opened he climb out the window with her and hopped on her back, and before she could take off he called back to the rest who were still in there in shock, apart from Blaise.

"Oi Blaise, take Dumbledore's and Snape's portraits down with you guys, don't think they'll want to miss this; oh and I'm going down with Hermy" Theo shouted before Hermione off with him on her back.

When the rest of them including the portraits of the professors, got down to near Hagrids Hut where Theo was standing next to Hermione who was still a griffin and saying encouraging words to her.

"So is this dangerous?" Ron asked concerned for his best friend who he just got back.

Blaise and Theo looked at each other before bursting into laughter "Of course, but Herms has done it so many times that she knows what to do so she'll be fine" Blaise told them "Ready Herms?"

Hermione looked at him and with a run up she was in the air getting higher and higher but still low enough so they can see her. Mid flap of her wings she stopped and lied back and went into a nose dive over the Black Lake. Harry and Ron were screaming at her to pull up but before she hit the water she transformed into something with a tail that looked like it was bright blue with scales.

When she resurfaced she had her human upper body but before anyone could say anything she went back under the water, it was a few moments before she came up and jumped 30ft out the water in the form of a mermaid with beautiful blue tail and blue clam bra. When she was about to fall back into the water she transformed into a beautiful white snow owl that looked like Hedwig.

She started to fly back towards everyone when she saw something move in the forest behind the all. When she was about to land she transformed into a gorgeous sliver dragon with pure black eyes. She didn't have any horns on her head but had spikes growing down around her face towards her body. She almost stood half the size of the forbidden forest.

Before anyone could do anything she was walking cautiously towards to forbidden forest to see what she saw. When she was on the edge of the forest she didn't expect what came out. Before she could change or shield the others, she was surrounded by death eaters.

They were trying to curse her left and right but with her strong armor skin that wasn't affected by magic a few gave up and turned to the other group to start firing curses at them. Before they could fire a single curse at the group they were flying through the air with so much force they cried out in fright. When everyone looked to see what had caused they to go flying they saw Hermione in her human form with her hand extended and all the death eaters that were attacking her were either burned to ash or bleeding to death. Hermione went to put her hand down but fell to the ground and everything went black.

"HERMIONE!" All the boys screamed as they ran to her.

"Oh Merlin, Hermione can you hear me?" Harry asked not noticing the blood on her body.

"She's covered in blood, why is she covered in blood if she was in the shape of a dragon?" Theo asked quickly.

Blaise and Draco started looking around for something that could cause so much blood. There was something shining about a meter away from where Hermione fell. Draco got up and walked over to it and found it was her sword, he picked it up and called Blaise "Blaise, can you come here for a minute?"

Blaise got up and walked to his mate and looked at what was in his hands. He gasped when he saw it was Hermione's sword covered in blood "Is that her blood?" Blaise asked dreading the answer.

"I think it might be" Draco said with a sigh "Come on we need to see if it is"

"Flip her over" Blaise told Theo, who just looked at him weirdly until he looked at the sword and slip her onto her side and pulled her shirt up and saw a deep bloody gash run from her shoulder to her hip.

"Can we heal it?" Ron almost yelled.

"Calm down Weasly, yes I can heal it" Theo said pulling out his wand and pointing it at Hermione's shoulder and mumbled something that no one else heard. Everyone watched as a bright purple light came out his wand as he traced her gash. Once he had finished tracing her wound it started to pull its self together leaving a long white line on her back. "She'll be okay, might be a bit sore and have a nasty scar but she'll be perfect again soon" Theo told the rest as they gave a sigh of relief.

"Thank goodness, we can't lose her now, but I think that it's best that you boys go now before anything else happens. It was good to see you all and when Hermione wakes up tell her I will visit soon enough" McGonagall said.

"It was good to see you too Professor, good bye all" Harry said and the rest nodded their agreement.

They watched McGonagall levitate the portraits back into the castle before Blaise picked up Hermione without any struggle and told the rest of them "Grab either Theo's or my arm, it'll be easier than going back to the gate, trust me"

"But no one can apparate in or out of the Hogwarts grounds?" Ron asked confused.

"We're wandless, plus we're strong then anyone thinks" Theo said.

Harry and Draco went and grabbed one of Theo's arms as Ron grabbed one of Blaise's. There was the usual spin and then they landed in a large dark forest. All they could see were trees all around them as Blaise and Theo started walking deeper into the forest.

"Where are you two going?" Harry called out running so he could catch up, Draco and Ron right behind him.

"The cottage, it's where we live now" Theo told them as they came up to a small broken down cottage inside a large clearing. Theo and Blaise still in front stopped and turned around before Theo spoke again "Okay, we have wards up so you won't be able to get in unless you're a wandless but we do have a charm we can place on you if you allow me to?"

The three boys nodded and Theo pulled out his wand again and mumbled something only Blaise heard.

"Now the charm won't make you feel any different or change you or make you wandless wizards but it's just like a permission slip I guess… so welcome to our little home, I guess" Blaise before he turned around and walked into the large clearing. The other four boys following closely by.

When Draco, Harry and Ron walked into the clearing they didn't see a small broken down cottage they saw a small cottage that looked brand new.

"Glamor charm? So people don't know you're here. Smart" Harry comment impressed.

"This is bloody wicked" Ron said.

"Is it big enough for six?" Draco asked taking in the size of the small cottage.

Blaise rolled his eyes and Theo chuckled "Draco, we're wizards; we can make things look smaller than they are" Theo said.

"Right" Draco said sheepishly.

When they walked into the small cottage the three boys were taken back by how modern the cottage was, if they apparated inside the cottage they would have thought it was a large flat with the black leather couches in a U shape in the center on the living room and the silver painted walls. On the far wall of the large room was a beautiful fireplace with a gorgeous stone mantel full of photos with all six of youth adults.

Harry walked over to the fireplace and picked up a photo of him and Hermione dancing around laughing with each other and asked "Did Hermione take this from me? I've been looking for it for a couple months now"

"Uh yeah, she did, she had one of her and Ron, one with you, her and Ron but none with just you and her so she wanted one so we helped her take it. Sorry about that mate" Theo said as Blaise disappeared up the stairs.

"Oh, no, its fine, I just felt bad that I lost it is all"

Draco walked over to the fire place to look at all the photos when one caught his eye. It was a photo was him and Hermione smiling at each other, his arm around her waist and her hand in his hand which was resting on her hip. "Um, when and where was this taking? And why can't I remember it?" Draco asked holding the picture up for everyone. He looked at everyone one at a time, when his eyes finally landed on Theo he was paler then normal and looked nervous "Theo?"

"Look Drake, I think it's best if you let Hermione answer that question when she wakes up, no one knows the full story because she keeps changing it on us…" Theo said looking at his feet.

"What do you know?" Draco asked slowly.

"All I know is that you two dated before me and Hermione…" Theo said quietly "She told me that she did was she had to, to keep you safe"

"So that's who she was protecting" Draco thought out loud.

"What?" Harry asked "What do you mean 'that's who she was protecting'?" Ron added.

"In the forbidden forest she was falling behind so I waited for her and walked with her and we were talking about how she felt bad about leaving everyone she loved and she I told her she did what she had to for the ones she loves and she said she was mainly doing it to protect one person, now I understand that person was me" Draco said "But why don't I remember all this?"

"Because I oblivated your memory" Came a quiet voice from the stairs. When everyone looked they saw Hermione being supported by Blaise and making their way to one of the black leather couches "I did it to protect you…" She added.

"Protect me from what?" Draco asked surprisingly calm.

"From your father, the morning before I oblivated you I received a letter from your father, he said 'More than ones blood will be spilt if you ruin the blood of a Malfoy' and I knew that at that moment he was going to go after both of us to kill us both and I wouldn't have done it if it was only me who he was… I'm so sorry Draco" Hermione with tears falling down her face.

"I could have protected you, you know?" Draco said looking at his feet.

"I'm sorry" Hermione whispered as she stood up and walked out the room, back up the stairs and into the room. She closed the door quietly and put different locking charms on the door and putting a silencing charm on her room and fell to her knees and cried her eyes out for a good hour.

Once her tears and sobs subsided she grabbed an acoustic guitar from the corner of her room and sat on her window seat and started to strum random strings. Another 5 minutes passed like this before she started to strum a song. Before she started to sing the boys slipped in to see if she was okay but Blaise and Theo knew that she'll ignore them at the moment so they told the others to be silent and listen to her song. Once they all nodded they heard her beginning to sing.

_I'm so tired of being here  
Suppressed by all my childish fears  
And if you have to leave  
I wish that you would just leave  
'Cause your presence still lingers here  
And it won't leave me alone_

These wounds won't seem to heal  
This pain is just too real  
There's just too much that time cannot erase

When you cried I'd wipe away all of your tears  
When you'd scream I'd fight away all of your fears  
And I held your hand through all of these years  
But you still have all of me

You used to captivate me by your resonating light  
Now I'm bound by the life you left behind  
Your face—it haunts my once pleasant dreams  
Your voice—it chased away all the sanity in me

These wounds won't seem to heal  
This pain is just too real  
There's just too much that time cannot erase  


_When you cried I'd wipe away all of your tears  
When you'd scream I'd fight away all of your fears  
And I held your hand through all of these years  
But you still have all of me_

__

I've tried so hard to tell myself that you're gone  
But though you're still with me  
I've been alone all along

_When you cried I'd wipe away all of your tears  
When you'd scream I'd fight away all of your fears  
And I held your hand through all of these years  
But you still have all of me_

...me, me, me. 

Draco just stared at her as she cried her heart out; he felt a pull inside his chest.

Theo went to move toward her to comfort her but she looked up in surprise and shock that she fell off her window seat. Theo rushed to help her up but she just pushed him off and lay on the floor staring at the ceiling. She lay there for a few seconds before closing her eyes and whispering "Can I just be alone?"

Theo looked at her worried before pushing everyone out of the room apart from Draco who he whispered "Make sure she's okay" And left with the others.

"Hermione" Draco said unsure of what to say. He saw Hermione open her eyes and flop her arms out to the sides.

"I didn't think anyone was in here" She whispered.

"Blaise and Theo unlocked it, it took us about an hour, and you're really good with locking charms"

"Thanks" She said quietly "I usually need to use them in this house when I'm in this state"

"Wait, you usually break down like this?" He asked as he sat on her oversized king bed.

She nodded before speaking "Yes, because I miss you, I miss Harry and Ron, I miss everyone and everything and mainly because of all the horrible things I've done" She said as she sobbed.

"What horrible things? If I remember correctly you were as innocent as they come"

"You're wrong"

"Then what have you done that is so horrible? It can't be that bad?" Draco asked.

"I've killed people… innocent people" Hermione whispered.

"Who?" Draco asked, feeling the tension coming from her.

"You don't know them…" Was all Hermione said.

"Then why is it so bad if I know?" Draco asked.

"You'll think that I'm a horrible human being who deserves to die a slow and painful death for the things I've done! I can't control it anymore!" Hermione almost screamed at him.

He watched she stood up and sit on the window seat stare out the window again.

"I wouldn't think that and you know I won't" Draco said trying to convince her.

"I killed my parents and many muggles I don't even know, they all had families and I took them away from them" Hermione said in a strained voice.

"Why?" Draco asked cautious of her words.

"Because I couldn't control my magic... when I learnt how to do wandless magic it was unstable, no one knows why it was so unstable apart from me"

"Why was it so unstable" Draco asked quietly.

Hermione looked up and looked into his eyes and rolled up her left sleeve to her elbow and looked down at her arm where it said _Mudblood_ "Bellatrix cursed it, I have dark magic running through my veins, there's no cure and I can't control it, sometimes it becomes too strong and it makes me kill"

Draco stood up and knelt down in front of her and took her arm gently and ran his fingers over the ugly scar, he looked up into her warm chocolate eyes "I'm so sorry Hermione! I should have done something" Draco whispered.

"No, you did the right thing by not doing anything. If you did anything you would have been kill and so would I, not to mention Harry and Ron which means the wizardry world" Hermione smiled.

"I feel so bad" Draco said lowering down to the floor.

Hermione grabbed his chin gently to get him to look her in the eye "You shouldn't feel bad, I should and I do. I'm so sorry Draco I never wanted to lose you"

"It didn't work" Draco said suddenly.

"What?" Hermione asked confused.

"It didn't work; the spell… I still had my feelings for you which is why you'd also catch me looking at you with a sneer on my face but I did lose most of my memories"

Hermione stared at him with her mouth open in shock, "Why didn't you tell me?"

"Because I knew why you did it" Draco said "You left the letter behind by accident"

"I-I did?" Hermione stuttered.

"Yeah, and I must admit as well that I don't remember how or when feel in love with each other but I do remember why I fell in love with you!"

"Why did you fall in love with me?" Hermione whispered.

"Because you were always everything I've wanted to be, you have always been so strong and you're so bright! You're beautiful beyond compare! You make me want to be a better person! Hermione I'm still in love with you" Draco smiled.

"I'm still in love with you too Draco" Hermione smiled, she never gave him a chance to reply when she crashed her lips onto his and showed him just how much she did love him through the kiss.

The kiss was passionate but slow and loving. When they broke apart for air Draco asked "I thought that you and Theo were together?"

"What gave you that idea?" Hermione asked confused.

"You two are so close and you two did date?"

"Oh, yeah we did but we weren't meant to be. He was trying to get information off of me during the end of sixth year for Voldemort while I was trying to get information out of him for the Order and when we found out about each other we didn't hate each other for some odd reason, we actually thought it was quiet funny that we were giving the same task. When you were given you're mission to kill Dumbledore he changed sides to the Order and became a spy, just like Snape was" Hermione explained "We're just friends now, he's like a brother and I'm like a sister. We protect each other no matter what. He's a lot more protective over me then Blaise is but Blaise knows how to calm me down and knows the right things to say to me so I don't go out and do something stupid that will end up getting all of us killed" She added.

Draco nodded "Well if I'm being honest I'm glad you two aren't together anymore"

"Why?" Hermione asked trying to look confused but failed.

"So I can win you back" Draco said with a slight chuckle.

"I was hoping you'd say that" Hermione winked.

Before Draco could speak again there came a big bang and glass shattering downstairs. Hermione jumped up before Draco could even let out a breath. He got up and ran out the door after Hermione.

When they got down the sight that they came to wasn't one they expected to see. Standing in the middle of the living room stood a bloody Luna Lovegood holding two extra wands that weren't hers.

Everyone was in shock seeing the usual dreamy dazed blonde, covered in blood. No one moved until Hermione walked over to her cautiously so not to scare her.

"Luna?" Hermione said quietly.

"Hermione! I'm so glad I found you! You're in so much danger! You have to leave now! He's on his way with more death eaters!" Luna screamed desperately.

"Who's coming for me?" Hermione asked quickly and Blaise and Theo came and stand beside Hermione in a proactive matter "Who did this to you?"

Luna looked at everyone in turn and when her eyes landed on Draco her eyes went wide as saucers and she whispered but everyone in the room heard her as if she yelled "Lucius" before she passed out.


	7. Woops

_**Not As It Seems**_

_**Chapter 7:**_

_**Woops**_

**Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter.**

Once everyone had calmed down and Luna was given a room the other six sat in the living room while Hermione was pacing back and forth for the past twenty minutes. Soon Blaise was started to get irritable with Hermione's impatience "Hermione, sit down or stop pacing! You're making me dizzy by watching you"

"Then stop watching me!" Hermione snapped while still pacing but even faster.

"You're going to walk through the floor soon" Theo said with a chuckle. Hermione just glared at him causing him to cover his chuckle with a cough.

"We need to leave" Hermione said after a deafening silence.

"Are you mad?" Blaise and Theo screamed.

"I will be if we stay here anymore! We've been here for a year! A YEAR! I'm so sick of all the stress and pressure and having to fight death eaters every other day and now Luna has been sent to warn us and we're not going to do anything?" Hermione screamed back when she stopped pacing. All of a sudden the lights in the room started to flicker; all the photos on the mantel began to crack, there was a spine chilling wind blowing everyone's hair everywhere and multiple odd items began to float in the air.

"Hermione, you need to calm down! You're magic is becoming unstable again" Theo said trying to calm her down.

When Blaise put his hands up to show he wasn't going to hurt her and tried to walk towards Hermione, she just looked him in the eyes and he was flung backwards with an invisible force, his head hit the wall he dropped to the floor in a heap and was out cold. Everyone was standing at this point trying to avoid everything that was flying around the room.

Her chest started to heave and she sounded like she was chocking. Her neck began to move side to side cause it to crack multiple times. When she stopped shaking her head everyone in the room noticed her eyes became a solid black that filled in the whites of her eyes.

Within seconds the cottage became to shake and the windows shattered forcing everyone to fall to the ground to avoid getting cut from the shattered glass. Hermione seem to be satisfied with her destruction so she started to walk out the cottage when a hand grabbed her ankle causing her to fall onto her face in surprise. Before she could do anything she was pinned up against the floor, with her hands above her head and someone saddling her legs so she couldn't move, she began to struggle against the weight on her trying to break free but she knew it was pointless.

When she finally took notice of who was on top of her she came face to face with a pale boy, with platinum blond hair and beautiful grey eyes with little blue specks in them.

Knowing they were Draco's eyes, the cottage stopped shaking and her eyes went back to their warm chocolate brown. Once everything had dropped to the ground with a loud _THUD_ and the wind stopped blowing, everything was calm again inside the cottage and that's when her eyes rolled back into her head and she fell into the deep slumber.

Draco picked her off of the floor and carried her to the couch and lied her down, checked to see if she was still breathing and had a pulse, with a relived sigh knowing that she just fainted he went to check if everyone else was okay. Harry and Ron were helping each other up but all had small cuts on their exposed skins from the glass, even Draco had some small cuts on his hands and face. When he saw Theo he was kneeling over Blaise seeing if he was alright but got no answer.

Draco rushed over to the pair and put his fingers on his neck searching for a pulse, when he found one, him and Theo picked Blaise up both having one of his arms looped over their shoulders and walked him over to lay him down on the couch opposite Hermione.

"What the bloody hell was that?" Ron asked still in shock from the events that just occurred.

"Dark magic that has made a home inside of Hermione's body, she has no control over it" Theo told him as he watched Harry fix the cottage up for him "Thanks mate"

Harry just stared at him before he asked "Why does she have dark magic in her body?"

Theo didn't answer him he just went to Hermione's side and lifted up her left arm and pulled her sleeve up to show the word _Mudblood_ scared on her forearm.

"Bellatrix" Harry growled "But I thought she used a knife?"

"No, it was her wand, it was a rather nasty curse and no one knows how to reverse it. She used a knife when you two came up to save her" Theo said pulling her sleeve down and putting her arm down by her side.

"I should have been there! I should have stopped it before it happened! I'm such an idiot" Harry spoke to himself.

"Mate, it's not your fault, if you were there you would have been killed and so would Herms and Weasly" Theo said.

"So why did it take over her now?" Draco asked trying to get back on track.

"Do her eyes usually go fully black?" Ron asked.

"It usually happens when she becomes too stressed, angry or when she having a serious breakdown, that had to be the worst she's ever been, she's never hurt anyone and we've always been able to calm her down so whatever you did Draco it worked. Her eyes have never done that before and I think that we need to get her some serious help, it's getting out of hand" Theo explained.

"Wait you didn't get help before?" Ron asked getting frustrated.

"Of course we did but the people we went to couldn't help and told us that there is no cured, after seeing about eight different people Hermione gave up and refused to see anymore, saying that she'll find a way herself"

At that moment Blaise woke up and grumbled "Why is my head pounding?"

"Hermione threw across the room when you went to approach her when she lost control and you hit your head on the wall, it's not serious" Theo told him, helping him sit up.

"Is she okay?" Blaise asked sounded concerned.

"She's passed out right now" Harry chimed in.

"Who stopped her?"

"Malfoy" Ron said.

Blaise looked at Draco with utter shock on his face "How did you manage to calm her down?" Blaise asked once he found his voice.

"I pinned her down so she couldn't move and tried to reason with her and she just gave in and then she went back to normal and she pass out right under me" Draco explained.

As if on cue Hermione let out a painful groan before shooting up and jumping off the couch and running out the room and down the hallway.

Blaise looked at Theo and said "Go see if she's alright" Theo looked at him for a moment before running down the hallway to look for Hermione.

Harry and Ron were about to go after the duo to see if there was anything they could help with but were stopped by Blaise's voice "Don't go after her, she'll be really embarrassed and Theo is looking after her"

"Is she going to be alright?" Ron asked.

"Yeah, she'll be fine; she just gets really sick after she loses control. It's one of the horrible side effects and Theo is the only one she lets around her" Blaise said having a hint of hurt in his eyes which he was glad nobody saw. "While Theo helps her with the side effects she will usually come to me if helping control her magic since I'm more advanced with my magic then Theo is" He added.

Harry and Ron nodded and Draco looked deep in thought "What about that sword? When she decapitated that vampire" Draco asked.

Blaise chuckled and shook his head in amusement "We haven't just taught Hermione wandless magic and other magical things, we also taught her hand on hand combat, how to use a sword correctly and how to hunt and track without a wand"

"How did you teach her to track and hunt?" Ron asked becoming intrigued in what his best friend can now do.

"Well when we teach her how to track, Theo and I will go into the forest and hide somewhere; leaving no trace we pasted by to make it harder for her when she got too good. When we're ready for her to track us we send her our patrons' and she begins her hunt. Its good fun, we should try it with her hunting down five people at once" Blaise chuckled.

"Why did you teach her this?" Draco asked.

"She asked us to, but she never told us why she only said it will be useful for her when the time is right" Blaise concluded "You know what when Theo and Hermione come back, we'll show you what she's got"

Meanwhile in the bathroom, Hermione barely made it to the toilet and let everything in her already small stomach out, which wasn't a lot knowing she hadn't eaten for almost a full day.

"Are you alright?" Theo asked kneeling to the side of her, holding her hair back and rubbing her back comfortably.

"No! I'm definitely not alright! I hate feeling like this! I just want my life back and still have you and Blaise by my side!" Hermione sobbed.

"You know Blaise and I want to same and are doing everything we can to get rid of this horrible curse!" Theo said reassuring her.

Hermione nodded before leaning forwards and dry reaching knowing she doesn't have anything in her stomach anymore. She sat back on her feet and leaned her back on Theo's shoulder and just cried.

She cried for everything that everyone has lost, knowing that people are still out there getting tortured and killed because of the stupid death eaters.

She cried for Blaise and Theo and taking their lives away from them and having them here and not with their own families.

She cried for all the pain she had to put everyone in her old life through making them think she was dead when she just ran away.

She cried for trying to get Draco out of her life for selfish reasons but she mainly cried for feeling hopeless and just wanted everything to be over.

Theo just held her tight and rocked her back and forth whispering smoothing things in her ear. When she finally stopped crying he pulled a bit so he could look at her face before speaking "Hermy, I love you like a sister, I hope you know that"

Hermione nodded and sniffed before answering "And I love you like a brother Theo; I would lost without you here with me, that same with Blaise"

"I know it's okay. We will never leave, I promise" Theo vowed.

"I'm glad" Hermione nodded "We should get back before they get too worried" she added.

Theo nodded and got to his feet and dragging Hermione with him and they walked back to lounge room with Theo's arm wrapped around her arm so she wouldn't collapse. When they got into the room Hermione ran over to Blaise who was now standing and jumped into his arms, bursting into a fresh set of tears.

"I'm so, so, so, so sorry Blaise, I never meant to hurt you in anyway" Hermione chocked out "I feel so bad, how much did I hurt you?" Hermione asked pulling back to she can look at his face.

"I only hit my head, nothing serious; I'm fine, I promise Herms" Blaise said pulling her back into his embrace.

Hermione nodded on his shoulder and took a few deep breaths before pulling away and wiping her eyes and looking at everyone in embarrassment. "I'm sorry guys if I hurt you, I can't control them outburst and that was the worst one I'm ever gotten"

"Hermione, everyone is fine, now to get your mind off of that how about some fun?" Theo said trying to lighten the mood.

Hermione instantly brightened up and had a massive smile plastid on her face and to the untrained eye it was a very convincing smile but to Draco he knew she was only faking it for everyone else's sake.

"What do you have in mind?" Hermione asked.

Theo smirked and went to her beaded back and pulled out her sword and threw it to her and then pulled out three others.

"Um, why do you have three swords?" Hermione asked in a serious tone.

"Come on Herms, I'm a master at sneaking around" Theo said with a wink.

"You stole them didn't you?" Hermione said crossing her arms and raising her eyebrow.

"Yep" Theo said popping the p.

"Good, we need some more" Hermione said earing disbelieving looks from everyone in the room apart from Theo, even Blaise had never seen this side of Hermione. "What? You don't expect us to pay did you?" Hermione laughed as she and Theo walked outside with a sword in each hand.


	8. Not So Innocent

_**Not As It Seems**_

_**Chapter 8**_

_**Not So Innocent **_

**Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter.**

Hermione was standing in the middle of the clearing facing Blaise with her sword gripped tightly in her hands and pointed towards to ground waiting for either Blaise to make a move or for the perfect time for her to strike.

Before the duel started Theo put protective charms on Blaise and Hermione so if the sword blade touched their skin it wouldn't cut them too deeply and heal almost instantly.

"What you waiting for Blaisey?" Hermione shouted over to Blaise in a mocking tone.

"You know, for you to stop wasting my time and strike already so I can kick your ass" Blaise said with a serious face.

"Surely you remember the last time when you said you'd kick my ass" Hermione said with a smirk crawling onto her face, earning a snicker from Theo.

"Shut it Nott, she did the same to you!" Blaise shouted and turned to him for a moment.

Hermione noticed Blaise slight distraction and ran in to forest out of sight before anyone noticed.

When Blaise turned back to Hermione and saw she wasn't there, stood up straight and let go of his sword with one hand as it dropped to his side, "Where is she?"

"No idea, we were all watching you shout at Nott with amusement, she must have slipped away?" Harry said.

Before Blaise could reply he had a sword pointed at his back and feminine voice came from behind him "Move and I will kill you Blaisey" Hermione giggled "Now drop the sword before I drop your pants"

Blaise dropped his sword and raised his hands to his pants to hold them up so Hermione couldn't pull them down.

Everyone saw Blaise go stiff and him dropping his sword and holding onto the top of his pants for life. When someone jumped on his back and planted a kiss on his cheek everyone saw why Blaise went rigged and dropped his sword. It was Hermione with a smirk that could beat Draco's.

When Hermione slide off of Blaise she picked up his sword and walked towards the rest of the group which now included Luna who slipped in while Hermione was slipping into the forest to hide. Hermione help out the sword waiting for her next opponent.

"Now, now Hermione don't get too cocky" Theo said stepping forward and taking the sword from her and moving to where Blaise was standing who was now standing next to Harry.

Hermione walked over to where she started with Blaise and turned to face Theo with an evil glint in her eye which let Theo know that she was going to do something he would hate.

"Oh my dear, dear, Theo I could never become cocky" Hermione said with her tone dripping with sarcasm.

"Good, was starting to worry about…" Theo started but stopped when he saw Hermione turn her back to him "What are you doing?" Theo asked.

"Giving you a fair chance for once" Hermione shouted over her shoulder.

Theo glared at her half-heartily and waiting until she turned around before he started too crept towards her crouched down low and casted a wandless _silenco _on his feet so she wouldn't know when she was behind her.

When he was right behind her, he quickly sliced her arm open. She let out a pain filled scream and dropped her sword.

Theo thinking that he seriously hurt her dropped his sword and trying to get her to show him what he'd done, forgetting the charm he placed on her and himself before they started the duel.

When he grabbed her arm, she slowly slid her foot behind him; she moved back pushing him backwards causing him to fall backwards due to her foot.

When he was on the ground Hermione grabbed her sword from the ground in a lightning fast movement that looked like a blur and jumped onto Theo, saddling his chest and pointing her sword at his throat.

"Should had guessed that one Theo" Hermione laughed at she withdrew her sword and jumped off of him and helped him to him feet.

Once he was on his feet they walked back to the ground after Theo grabbed his sword. When they were with the group again they were all staring at Hermione in awe at her cunning side when it came to sword dueling.

"I want to duel Ron this time" Hermione said taking the sword and passing it to Ron who was looking as pale as ghost. "What's wrong Ron?" Hermione asked.

"You're going to kill me 'Mione!" Ron chocked out.

"No I won't, these two are still standing aren't they?" Hermione said pointing to Theo and Blaise "I will go easy on you, promise" Hermione added with a sweet smile on her face that she knew Ron could never say no to at Hogwarts.

"Fine" Ron grumbled.

Jumped up and walked over to her spot waiting for Theo to finish the proactive charms on them and putting double on Ron.

"Are you ready Ron?" Hermione called out.

"Um, no" Ron answered.

Hermione laughed and started to walk dragging her sword on the ground towards Ron trying to look seductive. From the look of Ron it looked like it was working. When she was right in front of him she wrapped her arm that wasn't holding her sword, around his waist and pulled him close, she put her mouth near his ear and whispered "You're dead"

Ron's eyes winded and he looked like a deer stuck in headlights. Before he could push her away she jumped forward and pulled herself on his shoulders, so her feet were resting on his shoulder and leaning to the left side. She pulled her sword on the side to his neck and made it looked like she was about to slice his throat open.

When she was satisfied she scared him enough, she jumped off and walked off towards the group with a triumphed smile on her face.

"Sneaky one Herms" Theo commented.

"What was that?" Harry asked still watched Ron who was still standing in the clearing with a terrified look on his face.

Hermione followed Harry's line of vision and started laughing when she saw how scared she made him "Well I know how to judge someone's character just by looking at their face, reading their eyes and the way they carry themselves. I used that in all my duels today so far. With Blaise I got him distracted and then attacked from behind, with Theo who is a lot more daring but naïve I turned my back and made him feel bad for what he'd done and then I strike knowing that he'll feel bad for hurting me and Ron was the easiest and I will explain why in private to spear him some of his dignity" Hermione explained to her best friend.

Harry laughed knowing what she meant "Is it my turn?" Harry asked.

Hermione smiled and handed him his sword "Of course my dear chosen one" Hermione said giving a mocking low bow to Harry who just laughed and nudged her shoulder when she stood up again.

"Let's do this, and don't go easy" Harry said when they took their positions in the clearing.

Hermione smirked at Harry before running as fast as she could towards Harry with her sword in the right hand. When Hermione a few feet in front of Harry she slid to the ground and slipped through his open legs and sliced his leg, while dodging his blows.

Harry let out a painful cry but stayed standing and spun around to see Hermione already standing ready to attack again but she didn't notice his eyes flicker telling anyone who was paying attention knew he had a plan. He waited for Hermione to strike again and when she lunged forward he dropped to ground and Hermione tripped over him and landed on the ground with a _THUD._

"Ugh" Hermione groaned hoping that Harry would pick up on her bluff and go in for the kill.

Just like Hermione hoped Harry pointed his sword against her back thinking he won. The others started to applaud Harry apart from Draco who was watching Hermione was starting to evilly laugh loudly causing everyone to look at her.

When she knew everyone was watching her she closed her eyes and concentrated and slowly she became to sink into the ground. When she was out of sight everyone was staring at where she was on the floor and didn't notice her reappear behind Harry until she had her sword on his back and became to tut.

"Harry, Harry, Harry, what ever happened to constant vigilance?" Hermione said with a mocking tone.

"Hermione, how did you do that?" Blaise asked.

"Where did you learn that?" Theo asked.

"Did you just apparat?" Luna asked.

"Can you do that again? It was bloody brilliant" Ron said in awe.

Hermione put her hand up to shut them up when she saw Draco and Harry about to question her as well, "That's my little secret Blaise" Hermione winked "I learnt that when I ran for a few days, I was being chased by some death eaters and it just happened and then I became to research it, I'm not too sure what the name is it always slips my mind" Hermione said turning to Luna "No I didn't apparat, I merely just melted into the ground and then rose out of the ground behind Harry" Hermione explained "And Ron I can do it again but not right now, I'm a little tired for all the sword dueling"

"You're an elemental" Draco stated.

Hermione just stared at Draco like he grew a second head "Yes"

"Wait, what is an elemental?" Harry asked next to Hermione and Draco.

"An elemental is someone who can control one or more element, fire, water, air and/or earth" Draco told everyone.

"Hermione, you can control earth, you can help me with the nargals now!" Luna said in her dreamy voice. Everyone but Hermione stared at her like she was insane.

"I'd love to Luna; let's go do that now shall we?" Hermione asked trying to get away from all the questions being laid on her.

"I saw some over there when you and Theo were fighting" Luna said skipping towards Hermione and taking her hand and dragging her over to where she thought the nargals were.

"Is that a normal thing from her?" Blaise asked worrying for the girls' mental health.

"Yes it is, although this is the first time that Hermione has gone along with it" Harry said.

"Maybe she needed a break and wanted some time to relax?" Draco suggested.

"You're probably right" Ron said.

"Why don't we go inside and get some food and some fire whiskey?" Theo asked.

The other four boys nodded and follow Theo inside letting the girls have some alone time to catch up and relax.

"I know you don't want me with the nargals" Luna stated.

Hermione looked at her feet sheepishly "I'm sorry Luna; I just needed to get away from the guys and just have a girl to talk to for once"

"It's okay Hermione, I'm not mad. I pulled you over here quickly because I knew that's what you wanted" Luna said.

Hermione smiled at her old friend "So how has everything been?"

"It's been difficult trying to bring you three food and all the books. Their quiet hard to find"

"I'm sorry about that Luna, we would do it ourselves but it's really dangerous for us to leave the cottage and I trust you so much" Hermione said putting her hand around the younger girls' shoulders.

"Oh no, it's alright, I don't mind it. I meant its difficult finding the right food and books" Luna giggled.

"Oh"

"Have you told them about the curse yet?" Luna asked after an awkward silence.

"No, I don't think they'd handle it too well. I'm trying to keep off of the topic of the curse all together but it's not really working knowing the break down I had before we all came out here"

"Yes, Blaise told me about that. Are you alright?" Luna asked looking at her friend's distant gaze.

"Yes I'm alright, just a little shaken is all, but nothing a little fire whiskey can't fix. Would you like some?" Hermione asked.

"I'd love some" Luna said skipping back to the cottage with Hermione's hand in hers again.

When they went into the kitchen they saw Theo cutting up some cheese, tomatoes and lettuce, while Blaise was buttering a heap of bread. Harry, Ron and Draco were searching for something in the cupboards.

"What are you guys doing?" Hermione asked causing everyone to jump in shock and draw their wands and pointed them at her and Luna who both backed away slightly with their hands raised "Wow, sorry I asked"

"Sorry Hermione, you just surprised us" Harry said putting away his wand away like the rest and started to search through the cupboards

"What are you three looking for?" Luna asked watching Harry and Ron close a cupboard and Draco with his head still in one.

"We're looking for some glasses" Ron said.

Hermione flicked her wrist and six glasses came flying out of an untouched cupboard across the room from the three boys and land on the table next to the finished sandwiches Blaise and Theo made.

"Oh, thanks" Draco said. Hermione just smiled shyly at him before going to the untouched cupboard and opening the compartment and pulling out three bottles of fire whiskey.

"I'm guessing you guys were also looking for this?" Hermione said handing one of the bottles to Draco who took it gently.

"Uh, yeah, thanks" He said.

"Okay, well me and Luna will be in my room if you guys need anything" Hermione said as she passed a plate with a few sandwiches on it to Luna who took it gracefully before adding "And if you do need anything just remember that we are girls and we will be talking about girl things"

"Wait!" Blaise called out, when Luna and Hermione turned around he continued "With two fire whiskeys?"

"Yes, one for me and one for Hermione" Luna said like it was the most obsesses thing in the world.

"There's more in the cupboard if that's what you're worried about" Hermione said calling over her shoulder as she turned and walked down the hallway to her room with Luna in toe.

"Is she always this stubborn?" Draco asked.

Blaise and Theo just laughed, "You should know mate, you did have a thing for her since third year and dated her in sixth" Theo chuckled.

"You dated 'Mione?" Ron yelled.

"Did she never tell you?" Blaise asked "She was always with us in the library" he added.

"No" Harry said looking rather hurt.

"She never told you because we weren't planning on telling anyone because of the war. These two idiots only knew because they caught us going in the Room of Requirement. And Luna caught us snogging in the library past curfew" Draco told Harry who looked hurt and Ron who looked vivid.

"Wait" Harry said "When did you two break up?"

"We didn't really break up" Draco dragged out.

"Wait, you two are still together?" Theo asked.

"No, we're not together but we never actually broke it off"

"Then what happened?" Ron asked sounded more curious then angry.

"My father found out, he send Granger a letter saying that if she didn't leave me or something then he would kill me and her. She tried to oblivate my memory but this was before she was good at the spell and there were a lot of cracks and I knew whenever I insulted her or looked at her, there was something missing. After you two" Draco said pointing to Harry and Ron "And Hermione was brought to the manor and I saw her, some of it came back to me. That is also why I never ratted you out to Bellatrix and didn't fight back just blocked your curses"

"But why didn't she ever tell us?" Ron asked.

"Would you have accepted us? Me? Would you have stayed with her and supported her?" Draco asked already knowing the answer but wanted to know if they would answer.

"No, we wouldn't have accepted you and her together, but we would have supported her. She's our little sister" Harry said honestly "But it would have taken us some time"

Draco nodded his response, "When did you two break up?" Harry asked bring Draco out of his thoughts.

"Before the very first game of quidditch for the year, why?" Draco asked.

"Because in the after party in the Gryffindor common room she walked out halfway through and I found her crying at the bottom of some stairs alone" Harry said sadly remembering the reasons "She said that she was crying cause of Ron and Lavender Brown but it turns out she was crying because she lost you"

"Oh" Draco said looking at his feet, thinking how much of an idiot he was for letting his father do this to them.

"Do you love still her?" Blaise asked.

Before Draco could even think of an answer there was a very high pitched scream coming from the end of the hallway. All five boys ran down to Hermione's room and saw that Luna was saddling Hermione's waist on the floor.

"Um, did we interrupt?" Theo said with a smirk causing both girls to blush a deep red.

"Uh" was all they could say before they looked at each other and burst into a fit of giggles.

"Oh no, you didn't interrupt. We were just mucking around and she pinned me" Hermione said sheepishly.

"Yes, I'm certain that was what was going on" Blaise said with a chuckle.

"You should know Blaise" Luna said standing up and helping Hermione to her feet.

"What's that meant to mean?" Blaise asked confused.

"It means what you think it means" Hermione winked "But since you're in here can you do us a massive favor?" Hermione slurred.

"What is it? And are you drunk?" Harry asked.

"What? I can't believe you accused me of being drunk my dear Harry but our favor is if you can go and get us two more bottles of fire whiskey?" Hermione said battering her eyelashes at the boys who just stared at her in utter shock. "What?" She asked.

"You've drank both bottles already?" Ron asked, first to recover.

"Well yes, you shouldn't be too surprise Ronald, we were playing a really fun game, weren't we Luns?" Hermione asked the girl who was standing next to her.

"Oh yes we were Herm Herm" Luna said turning to Hermione and winking at her.

"What game?" Blaise asked slighting curious and concerned just how fast two girls and get drunk with one game in ten minutes.

"I never" Hermione said winking at him "Care to join us?"

"That would be absolutely wonderful" Luna said jumping up and down, one her second jump she landed and lost her balance, reaching out to steady herself on Hermione, she accidently fell on top of Hermione and her lips fell onto Hermione's.

Both girls looked at each other shocked and from the gasps that they heard from the boys they were just as shocked to see the girls lip locked as the girls. When the girls finally realized what was going on Luna jumped off of Hermione and Hermione just lied on the floor with a confused look on her face before she burst into a fit of laughter. Luna also burst into a fit of laughter.

All the guys just looked at the girls if they were insane before slowly stepping out of the room leaving the two laughing girls and headed back to the kitchen for some fire whiskey and food.


	9. Surprise

_**Not As It Seems**_

_**Chapter 9**_

_**Surprise**_

_**Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter.**_

The next morning found Hermione and Luna lying on Hermione's floor with pounding headaches. It was ten in the morning and the sunlight was illuminating the room in a blinding light.

Hermione groaned as she tried to stand up. It took her a few tries before she was standing on her swaying feet and making her way to the kitchen where Theo and Harry were in deep conversation and didn't realize Hermione was in the room until she flopped down in one of the chairs at the table and dropping her head on the table, making her head hurt even more than it did two second ago.

"Hang over?" Theo asks with a chuckled.

The only answer Theo got was a very unladylike grunt from Hermione which caused Theo and Harry to laugh at her.

Hermione lifted her head and glared at them before dropping her head on the table again.

"How did you and Luna get so drunk so fast?" Harry asked when he stopped laughing.

"We were playing a game, that's all I can remember before you all came in" Hermione said with her head still on the table.

"What game cause you two to get so fuck faced?" Theo asked becoming interested.

"I forgot but it had to do with some truth thing" Hermione said. At the point Luna dragged herself into the room and sat beside Hermione and held her head in her hands "What game did we play last night Luna?" Hermione asked the girl next to her.

Luna looked her in thought with a frown on her pale face "I think it was truth or drink" Luna answered after a moment.

"Truth or drink? What's that?" Came a voice from the door way, when everyone looked at the new voice they saw Blaise, Draco and Ron making their way into the room.

"It's where you either answer a truth or you take a mouthful of drink, it gets you drunk faster than you think when you play with Hermione here" Luna said with a chuckle when she saw Hermione send her a glare.

"Do we have any hang over potion left?" Hermione asked.

"No, you've seemed to have used it all, we can either make some or go and buy some" Blaise said checking the cabinets.

Hermione groaned before saying "Do we have any fire whiskey then?"

Everyone stared at Hermione like she was insane before Draco spoke up "Don't think that's a good idea Granger, that's what got you in this problem in the first place"

"Don't tell me what I can and can't do Malfoy!" Hermione snapped as she raised her head from the table and little too fast and became dizzy and dropped her head in her hands.

"Someone's snappy this morning isn't she?" Theo said.

"Shove it Nott" Hermione snapped at Theo before standing up and walking out of the room and outside to get some fresh air.

"Is she usually like that when she's hung over?" Ron asked.

"No, she's hasn't called me Nott for years now. She's either had one of her dreams or she's just really pissed off today" Theo said looking away from the door and at Draco "So don't rail her up today, it might just be the last thing you do"

"Why are you looking at me for?" Draco asked.

"Never mind" Theo sighed.

"I'm not going to annoy her if that's what you're implying" Draco defended himself.

Blaise and Theo looked at their friend who didn't understand the joke "We were only joking Drake" Blaise clapping his mate on the shoulder.

At that moment Hermione came running into the room looking flustered and panicked "We need to go NOW!" She shouted before running out and to her room.

Everyone followed her to her room to see her packing her charmed beaded bag full of clothes.

"What's going on? Why do we have to leave" Blaise said grabbing her arms to stop her rushing around the room like a mad women.

"They're here!" Hermione said slipping out Blaise hold and slinging her bag over her shoulder and running to Blaise and Theo's room.

When she going into their room she starting to put their clothes into her bag and all the swords. Once she was satisfied that she had everything in her bag she moved over to the room Luna and Ron shared and pack their things and then did the same thing with Draco and Harry's room.

Everyone was watching Hermione move in a rush from room to room until she got into the lounge room where she stopped right in the middle of the room.

"Their outside the cottage, we need to apparate" Hermione said looking out the window and saw the death eaters making their way towards the cottage and staying away from the windows.

Before anyone could move and muscle or speak the front door was blow into bits. Standing in the middle of the doorway stood an all too familiar figure.

"What do you want?" Theo yelled and everyone drew their wands and formed a circle in the middle of the room waiting for the fight that was about to happen.

"We want her" The man said in a rough voice "Give us the girl and no one will be harmed, you have my word"

Hermione snorted at his promise and stepped forward "You've said that before and you killed them, I'd rather die than go with you slim ball!" She shouted with her wand trained at the man.

The man stepped into room and removed his mask reviling who the man was.

"Father?" Draco gasped "You're meant to be dead!"

"Disappointed?" Lucius smirked "I always knew you were though"

"Shut up!" Hermione yelled at him stepping in the middle of Draco and the monster that was his father "He stays out of this! You want me not him or any of them!"

"Looks like this mudblood has taken a liking a my son" Lucius snicker to the other two death eaters who were standing either side of him with their wands both pointed at Hermione and ignored the others in the room "Didn't I warn you what would happen years ago if you didn't stay away from him years ago?"

"Like I'd listen to you!" Hermione spat "You wouldn't kill me, I know what you want and my answer is still no!"

"Just imagine all the power you can have if you did take my offer, no one would call you a mudblood again! We can remove that curse you have that Bellatrix put on you back at the manor!" Lucius said stepping to stand right in front of Hermione and ran a hand over her cheek.

At the contact Hermione jerked back like he burnt her "Don't you dare touch me you scum" Hermione scowled.

When Lucius heard this he lost his temper and raised his hand and slapped Hermione right across the face, causing her to step back and turn to the side from the impact "How dare you speak to me like that, you filthy little mudblood" Lucius yelled.

When the group saw Lucius slap Hermione they started to send curse at the death eaters, bring the two down easily. Seeing the entire struggle inside more death eaters started to flood in, breaking the windows so they can come in quicker.

Once Hermione had recovered from the slap across the face the cottage was being overrun by death eaters and curses coming from both sides. Hermione's eyes were trained on Lucius like a hawk watching their prey.

Hermione raised her wand to curse him but a figure came to stand next to him. The figure was a woman with wild black hair that mattered together. Hermione identified her as Bellatrix quite easy as she never wore the death eater mask. Her wand was on Hermione and before Hermione could blink she was under the cruciatus curse and was one her knees whimpering trying not to scream.

One the other side of the room Draco just finished knocked out three death eaters and looked around the room to see if anyone need any help and saw his insane aunt put Hermione under the cruciatus curse. Draco pointed his wand at his aunt and called an expelliarmus charm but it was deflected by his father who had stepped in front Bellatrix who was enjoying touring Hermione.

"Such a disappointment! Always have been and always will be, I'm afraid" Lucius said nonchalance.

"Oh no, father I was never the disappointment, it was you who brought down the family name and left me to bring it back up. You left me think you were dead! Is mother dead?" Draco asked with a very hatful expression on his face.

"Your mother? She was just as disappointing as you are! I had to end her! You see she was on the wrong side of the war and was a traitor and we can't have that now can we?" Lucius laughed

Draco stared at his father in disbelief, he always knew that his mother was on the light side of the war and helped out with the order whenever she could but he never thought his would know and kill her. "You killed her?"

"Of course I did, I had to!" Lucius yelled.

Draco was about to curse his father but an ear piercing scream erupted in the air. Draco looked past his father and saw Hermione standing up with blackened eyes staring his aunt down with her hand holding her own arm where her mudblood scar was.

Bellatrix was cackling seeing what her curse was doing to the young witch. Keeping eye contact with the girl she started to step backwards towards the door, watching the young witch follow her with a hatful glare on her face.

When they were outside Bellatrix noticed one of the witch's friends fighting with three of the death eaters and called the death eaters to distract the mudblood. When the death eaters left the fight with the boy they moved onto Hermione who was throwing curses at Bellatrix.

Bellatrix moved to the boy she saw his red hair and knew it was a Weasley. She was standing only meters away from him and she knew she had his full attention and started to throw curses at him like there was no tomorrow. She disarmed him in a matter seconds and was standing right in front of him with her wand pointed under his chin.

Wanting to make the mudblood suffer she grabbed Ron's hair and dragged him over to where Hermione was fighting the death eaters, still in her cursed state of mind. When the death eaters saw Bellatrix move in between them, they stopped cursing her.

Hermione saw that Ron was in Bellatrix's hands and she snapped out of her cursed state of mind and watched at Bellatrix's hand was wondering Ron's neck. At this point Lucius came out followed Draco and Blaise. When they saw Bellatrix holding onto Ron they came up to Hermione's side to help her.

"Come with us now mudblood or I will kill him!" Bellatrix cackled, showing her teeth.

"Let him go and I will" Hermione said sternly.

Bellatrix stared at Hermione with an evil grin on her face and threw Ron to the ground at her feet.

Hermione was about to step forward when she felt two hands grab her arms, holding her back, she looked up to see Draco and Blaise both staring at Bellatrix, clearly not trusting her.

"You're not going Hermione, this is a set up!" Blaise whispered in her ear.

"I won't let her kill Ron though!" Hermione harshly whispered back. At that moment the rest of the group came out and saw Hermione being held back by Draco and Blaise and Ron on the floor in front of Bellatrix and Lucius behind her.

"Come on mudblood, we don't have all day!" Lucius yelled at Hermione.

Before anyone could do anything Hermione had slipped out of Blaise's and Draco's grip and was making her way to them. When she was standing right in front of Bellatrix she stepped over Ron and raised her hand that was in a tight fist and punched Bellatrix right in nose, causing the older witch to stumble back and Lucius to hold her up so she didn't trip over.

Hermione grabbed Ron's arm and threw him to the others and started to back away from the pair cautiously.

When Bellatrix had recovered slightly she pointed her wand at Hermione and screamed "_Avada Kedavra" _before Hermione could jump out the way Ron jumped in front of her letting the curse hit him right in the chest.

Ron fell to the ground; his eyes became as lifeless at his body in less than a second. Hermione let out a scream and collapsed next to Ron's body and started to sob. Harry came up behind her and tears starting to run down his face.

Hermione's head snapped up when she heard Bellatrix cackling and saw her jumping in amusement. Hermione stood up and started to throw curse at the older witch again but they much stronger than before. She had managed to knock out Lucius with a stunning charm and her full attention was on Bellatrix.

Knowing that she didn't have a chance Bellatrix ran back into the forest for cover. Before anyone could stop her Hermione took off after her with Luna following behind her for back up if she needed it, knowing exactly what Bellatrix was capable of.

"Scared Bellatrix?" Hermione snickered when they had stopped in a clearing and watched Bellatrix looking around trying to find the best escape route for her.

Not seeing any she turned and faced the two younger witches and threw curses at them.

Hermione who was getting rather annoyed that most of her hexes and cursed were either blocked or dogged she started to transform into a creature that looked like a pitch black dragon with bright red eyes. When Hermione had finished the transformation Bellatrix was staring at her with a terrified expression on her face.

Bellatrix only just realizing that she could apparat, she left the two witches with a loud _pop. _Hermione changed back to her human form and looked at Luna who was still looking at the spot Bellatrix was, she broke down and dropped to her knees and just cried.

When Luna realized that Hermione was crying she dropped down to her knees next to her and hugged her, letting her own sobs out with her best friend.

The two girls sat there sobbing their hearts out, holding onto each other tightly like if one of them let go the other would fade away. After what seemed like hours both girls tears subsided and they made their way back to the damaged cottage with their arms still around each other.

When they came back to the cottage, all the boys but Harry who was still sitting with his dead best friend, were fixing the outside of the cottage. Hermione left Luna who went over to Blaise, and went over to Harry and knelt next to him and wrapped her arms around him, who done the same and she started to sob again.

"He's gone, this is my entire fault" Hermione cried.

"No it's not, it's not your fault" Harry whispered in her hair.

"Yes it is! If I didn't just freeze up like I did I could had got out the way and then he wouldn't have jumped in front of me and taken the curse" Hermione said pulling back and looking Harry dead in the eye "If I had just killed her when I had the chance then this would never had happened!"

"Hermione, you can't blame yourself! He jumped in front of the curse knowing what would happen! Don't beat yourself up over this! I would have done the same and I know you would have too!" Harry said trying to reassure if best friend.

Hermione absentmindedly nodded her head in understanding before standing up and walking into the cottage with tears will flowing down her face, she ignored everyone as she walked through the now fixed doorway and walked to her room where she slammed the door and slid down it and cried on her own.

"What are we going to do with Ron?" Luna asked coming and kneeling down next to Harry and put an arm around his shoulders "Should we bury him?"

Harry nodded and looked up and looked at the other boys and asked "Can you help me?"

All the boys agreed to help Harry and went to go get shovels to dig a grave for the brave man.

"I'm going to get Hermione" Theo announced "I bet that she'd want to be here for this" He added before turning to the cottage and making his way to Hermione's room and knocked gently on the door.

After knocking two more time the door swung open to revile a crying Hermione curled up in bed under the covers.

"Hey" Theo said softly and made his way over to the bed and sat on the edge "We're burying Ron and I came to get you, I thought you might want and come say goodbye?"

Hermione nodded and sat up on the bed and drying her red, puffy eyes before standing up and pulling the blanket up and wrapping it around her shoulders. "Can you carry me so I can't run off?" She asked.

Theo nodded and came up and stood in front of her and put one of his hands on her back and the other under her knees, holding her bridal style. Pulling her close to his body he walked them both outside to where the grave was dug and the others were standing around.

When they reached the group Theo put Hermione down and surprise to see that she went over to Draco who wrapped his arms around her, she nodded to Harry letting him know that they can start.

Harry looked over the deep grave with a grim look over him face and tears overflowing in his eyes. He and Blaise grabbed Ron and lowered Ron's still, stiff body into the grave and Theo started to shove the dig back into the grave.

"Someone should say some nice words for Ron" Luna said in her dreamy voice.

Harry nodded and became to think of some words and just when he was about to speak Hermione did, surprising everyone.

"Ron didn't like me at the beginning of first year until the troll almost killed me. He always thought I was mental because I could answer all the questions right in class and always had my nose in a book" Hermione laughed at the memory "After the troll attack Harry, Ron and I became inseparable and they became my best friends. I saved him that year from the devil snare when we went looking for the philosopher stone. In second year I met his mum and it was quiet awkward, she liked to hug us a lot, my favourite part of that year when he stuck up for me when Draco called me a mudblood the first time and even though his curse back fired I knew that we'd always be friends and that I could always count on him" Hermione let out a few sobs before speaking again

"In third year I developed a little crush on him, when we were saving Buckbeak he always made sure I was okay and when Remus turned into a werewolf, even though foot was broken he shielded me from him so I wouldn't get hurt. Then came forth year and Viktor Krum came into the picture, Ron was so jealous he said that I was fraternizing with the enemy at the Yule Ball and said that he was too old for me" Hermione and Harry both laughed at the fight they had "But I told him that next ball that he needed to pluck up the courage and ask me before someone else does and not a last resort but he still never did.

"I'm fifth year we were started the DA, and Ron thought it would be a good idea if I was second in charge to Harry all because I was smart and quick with my spells. We had to duel each other for practice and he didn't even get to lift his wand fully before I knocked him off his feet" Everyone laughed at the thought of Ron losing to a girl "But he acted that he let me win when everyone knew that I was just faster than him. In sixth I finally got over my three year crush on him when Draco found me crying over him and we just had a spark" Hermione smiled up at Draco as he tightened his grip around her waist

"Then the golden trio went off to look for horcruxes and like always me and Ron had a massive fight and he left me and Harry to search by ourselves. I didn't forgive him when he back but just before we were captured by snatchers and we were taken to Malfoy Manor" Hermione started to absentmindedly her mudblood scar, everyone notice and frowned at her action "After I was tortured by Bellatrix Harry and Ron saved me, Ron was the main one who fussed over me, even though I told him to get lost cause he was being too overprotective of me and that I was fine.

"When the final battle came, Ron refused to leave mine and Harry's side until Harry had to go and get himself killed but decide that he would be the-boy-who-wouldn't-die" Hermione winked at Harry who had a sheepish grin on his face "Once everything had settled after we won the three of us moved into a large flat together and we spent most of our night reminiscing about things from Hogwarts and the war. Now he's gone and we won't even be able to go to the three broomsticks for a butterbeer ever again, we'll never have one of our stupid arguments ever again, I'll never be able to correct him for an incorrect use of a word or scold him for talking with his mouth full. I'll never be able to make any more memories with someone who is a true friend and someone I look at a brother" At this point Hermione was hysterical with Harry holding onto her and Draco standing to the side to the two friends grieve together "I'm going to miss him so much Harry and I'll be able to tell him, I can't even remember the last thing I said to him"

"Shh, it's alright" Harry whispered into her ear as he let her cry into his already tear soaked jumper "I think Hermione has summed it up about Ron and what he was like" Harry said address the group knowing that Hermione just wanted to go to bed and cry.

Everyone nodded knowing that Harry was referring to Hermione needed to get inside. Harry walked her back to the cottage and her room where he lied her down in her bed. He was about to turn around and leave when she grabbed onto his hand and asked "Can you get Blaise for me?"

Harry promise to go and get Blaise, he was gone not even a minute before Blaise showed up in the room and shut the door behind him and crawl into bed, not bothering about his shoes and brought Hermione into his arms and rocked her back and forth whispering comforting things to her.

"Everything will be okay, you're safe. I'll protect you I promise" Blaise promised her.

"Blaise, can I ask you something?" Hermione asked after a moment of silence.

"Yes, of course" Blaise said looked down at the girl who he'd grown to love like a little sister.

"Do you blame me?" She whispered and closed her eyes.

"What? No, of course not! You never knew that Ron would have jumped in front of that curse, I know that Draco, Theo and I were all about to and Luna and Harry were about to pull you out the way but Ron was closer to you and if he pulled you away he would have been hit anyway so he did it to protect you. Ron loved you like a sister Herms, I know that, he did it because he wanted you to live a long happy life" Blaise said stroking her hair.

Hermione nodded before saying she was tired, Blaise was about to leave before Hermione asked him to stay. He was happy to stay and comfort her but couldn't help but think that it would have been better for Draco to take his place, knowing what the two felt for each other, but it seemed that Hermione was more comfortable to be around him at the moment.


	10. Training

_**Not As It Seems**_

_**Chapter 10**_

_**Training**_

**Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter.**

Hermione was lying in bed and starting out the window that over looked over the forest. The way the leaves danced in the moonlight was relaxing and distracting from what was going on around her.

Hermione was brought out of her thoughts when there was a soft knock at her door and her door clicking open and then shut. She didn't turn around and felt the other side of the bed sink down again and a hand begin to rub her arm comfortingly.

"Hermione" a soft voice that sound like Harry spoke "You've been in here for three days straight and you haven't eaten"

"I'm not hungry" Hermione's voice came out rough and horsey from not using it in three days and all the crying "I want to be left alone!"

"No Hermione that is enough! You're coming downstairs with me right now and you're coming to spent time with all the people who you're pushing away and who are all worried sick about you! You're not the only want who lost one of their best friends!" Harry's voice was rising slightly making Hermione jump.

"I know I'm not the only one who lost a friend but you don't seem to care that he's gone!" Hermione screamed sitting up and facing Harry.

"I do care! You've just haven't noticed because you're sitting in your room away from the people who want to help you!" Harry shouted while standing up from the bed "You can either down the easy way or the hard way, your choice Hermione"

"What?" Hermione asked watching Harry make his way to her side of the bed.

Harry stared at her for a moment for speaking "Are you coming downstairs?"

"NO!" Hermione yelled.

Hermione screamed in fright as Harry threw her over his shoulder and ignored her struggles and fists in his back.

Harry started to struggle to hold her when he started to walk down the stairs because Hermione was still kicking and thrashing around, trying to break free. "Stop struggling Hermione!"

"Put me down or take me to my room and I will!" Hermione screeched.

"What in Merlin's name is going on?" Blaise grinned when he saw Hermione trying break free from Harry's grip "Ah, Hermione, welcome back to life"

"Shut it Zabini!" Hermione scold "Put me down Potter!"

Everyone stopped whatever they were doing and watched Hermione in shocked that she was being so un-Hermione.

"Hermione?" Luna's dreamy voice came from the side of the room.

"What?" Hermione snapped when Harry finally dropped her on the coach, making her lay on her back and sat on her legs so she couldn't get away and run back to her room.

"Um, you're in underwear and a t-shirt" Luna said sheepishly.

Hermione looked down at herself and saw that Luna was right and she was in a baggy grey t-shirt that hung off her right shoulder and in her black lace underwear. Hermione covered her face so that everyone didn't see her blush in embarrassment.

"Can someone go get me some pants?" Hermione whispered under her hands.

It was a moment before anyone understood what she said Theo got up and went upstairs to her room and brought down a pair of black yoga pants. When he handed her, her pants she took them and mumbled a thank you before pushing Harry off and putting them on. Once her pants were on she flopped back onto the coach and leaned her head back and stared at the ceiling.

"Can I go back now?" Hermione asked as she closed her eyes.

Everyone scream no at her causing Hermione to jumped and lift her head up with wide eyes.

"Fine, no need to shout at me!" Hermione snapped.

"Do you know what you said to Blaise and Harry before Hermione?" Theo asked carefully. Seeing Hermione's confused face her head shaking no he continued "You called Blaise, Zabini and Harry, Potter"

"I did?" Hermione asked quietly.

"Yes, you surprised all of us how angry you were to be brought down here" Luna said.

"Oh no, it's not that I was angry about being brought down here, it was the way I was brought down here that annoyed me!" Hermione said glaring at Harry.

"You wouldn't have come down any other way Granger" Draco piped in.

Hermione just sighed loudly before getting up and putting her hands up to stop her friends from saying anything and wordlessly left the room and went into the kitchen to make herself something to eat. When she finished making herself a bowl of porridge, with strawberries and blueberries sprinkled on top with a coating of icing sugar, she make her way back into the lounge room and sat in between Draco and Theo.

"I thought you didn't like porridge Herms?" Theo asked stealing a blueberry and chucking it in his mouth.

"I don't" Hermione said shoving a mouth full in her mouth "It's just that I feel like it" Hermione added once she swallowed.

"You can never make your mind up if you like something or not can you?" Blaise chucked when Hermione stuck her tongue out like a little kid.

"What are we doing today?" Draco asked.

"I want to do some research" Hermione stated.

"Of course you do" Theo comment.

Hermione shot him a glare and he put his hands up in defeat, "I actually wanted to research the killing curse Theo!" Hermione snapped.

"Hermione, we agreed not to worry about that anymore since the war is over?" Blaise asked.

"Yeah, well, I changed my mind okay!" Hermione almost shouted.

"Does this have anything to do with Bellatrix?" Theo asked careful.

"Why would you think that?" Hermione asked trying to look confused.

"Hermione stop doing that! Stop acting like we don't know, we know what this is all about" Blaise stated.

"Fine, yes it's about Bellatrix! I'm so sick of my life being ruined by that stupid bitch; I want her out of my life once and for all!" Hermione shouted this time.

"Hermione, you of all people should know how powerful she is and we show how much more powerful she had become just the other day, you're not going after her!" Harry said in a calm voice.

"Yeah, well Harry you have no say in what I do!" Hermione said "No one here does! I will kill her if it kills me!"

"Hermione no!" Theo and Blaise jumped up from their spots on the couches and shouted at her.

"What did you do with Lucius?" Hermione asked.

"You stunned him and we tied him up in the basement, why?" Draco asked.

Hermione nodded and got up as well and made her way to the basement with everyone following her trying to tell her to stop, but nothing was working.

When Hermione got into the basement and saw Lucius sit up against the back wall, tided tightly in ropes. Hermione walked up to Lucius and stood in front of him, not bother to pull out her wand.

"Hello Lucius" Hermione spat.

"Hello there mudblood" Lucius spat back.

Hermione chuckled at him and earned cautious looks from the group behind her who all had their wands out in case they needed to step in.

"Oh Lucius, do you really think you're in the position to insult me do you? Because last time I checked you're the one all tied out and without a wand" Hermione tilted her head to the side and smiled sweetly at him.

Lucius gave a look for of hate and disgust "What do you want?" He sighed, seeing no point in fighting the witch in front of him.

"Good boy, now tell me about the killing curse" Hermione said kneeling down in front of him so they were eye level.

"Why would you want to know about that?" Lucius asked in confusion and surprise.

"Uh, uh, uh, I am the only one who is allowed to ask the questions here! Now tell me everything you know about that stupid curse!" Hermione shouted the last part, making her voice echo in the almost empty room.

"Well as you have been saying: it is a killing curse, an unforgivable. There is no way to save someone if it hits them!" Lucius explained.

"I know all of this! I'm not stupid! Is there any way to block it?" Hermione asked.

"Hermione!" Blaise warned from behind her "What are you doing?"

Hermione paid no attention to him and kept staring at Lucius surprised face, after a moment realization crept onto his cold face and he said "This about that blood traitor!"

Hermione slapped him across the face and grabbed the front of his shirt and brought it so their faces were inches away from each other. "Never insult my friends again!" Hermione whispered ever word in a dangerous tone.

Everyone was so shocked that Hermione the sweet and innocent one had slapped a man who was twice her age across the face. No one noticed Hermione throw him back towards the wall and stand up and turn to make her way out of the room when a voice came from behind her causing her to stop.

"If you want Bellatrix, I know where she is!" He chuckled.

Hermione turned around and glared at him and asked "Where?"

"The brightest witch should find that easy" Lucius smirked.

Hermione stared at him for a few moments before she realized what he meant. She ran out of the room and up to her room. Everyone but Luna followed her.

She walked forward and knelt down in front of him and asked in her dreamy voice "Is she at Malfoy Manor?"

Lucius nodded and Luna smiled and got up and turned to leave but was she was also stopped by Lucius called to her "Make sure Miss Granger knows what she's doing! Bellatrix has become more powerful and won't think twice about killing her!"

Luna didn't look back at him but she ran out of the room and then upstairs to Hermione's room to find that she was in a screaming match with all the boys.

"SHUT UP!" Luna yelled on top of everyone. Once everyone stopped screaming at each other they all looked at Luna in shocked that she yelled at everyone "Good, Hermione I don't want to get into a fight with you so I want you to just listen before you interrupt me okay?" Luna asked her.

Hermione nodded and sat down on her bed waiting for Luna to say what she need.

"Okay, I stayed down there and asked Lucius where she was and she is at Malfoy Manor, I know you know that but that's not what I found out. Lucius said that she has grown a lot stronger and said that you wouldn't stand a chance against her now. He said that you should know what you're getting into before you rush off and get yourself killed" Luna said in her dreamy tone.

Hermione just stared at her for a few moments before saying "Then I want to train! I want to be ready for her!"

Luna smiled at Hermione and rushed over and pulled her to stand up and hugged her. Hermione hugged her back.

"So when do we start?" Harry asked.

Hermione let go of Luna and looked at Harry "Harry I can't let you; or anyone else to help with this one"

"Hermione, when will you realize that we're in this together? Didn't you tell me that back at Hogwarts?" Harry winked.

Hermione smiled widely at him when she realized that there was no changing his mind. She turned to the rest of them and asked "Are you guys in?"

"No way am I sitting back this time" Draco said "Plus my Aunt is a monster"

Luna came beside Hermione a grabbed her hand and said "We promised to always have each other's backs"

"Who else is going to crack the jokes?" Theo said with a chuckle.

Hermione smiled at the four and then turned to Blaise to see him frowning "Blaise?"

Blaise sighed "I don't like but who else is going to make sure none of you get killed"

Hermione squealed and jumped on Blaise and wrapped her legs around his waist and kissed his cheek. Blaise just laughed and hugged her before putting her back down.

"Okay, since we know where she is, we just need a plan now I guess and lots of training" Hermione said becoming serious again.

"Can we start training now?" Luna asked.

Hermione nodded and let Theo lead the group out to the clearing to start training.

"Alright Herms, what do you want us to do?" Theo asked once everyone was in the clearing.

"Actually I wanted to get Draco and Harry to run the dueling training, since Draco is experienced in the dark arts and Harry has a lot of experience in dueling" Hermione said looking hopeful at the two.

Harry and Draco looked at each other and nodded and walked to stand in front of the group. When they were in front of the group Draco locked eyes with Hermione's eye that was already watching him and winked at her, making her blush.

"Okay, so why don't we start with what we do know so who wants to start us off with a one on one duel?" Harry asked.

Blaise stepped forward and so did Luna. They looked at each other with a shy smile that Hermione and Theo picked up.

Blaise and Luna got into position at one end of the clearing and waited for Harry to explain the rules of the duel.

"Okay, so this is a wand duel since Luna isn't a wandless that I know off" Harry said looked at Luna who shook her head no "Alright, so we are just looking to disarm or stun your opponent, understand?" Harry looked at both who nodded and drew their wands and pointed it at each other "Go!" he shouted.

Once Harry had shouted that Blaise threw the first hex, which Luna blocked easily and before Blaise could make another move Luna shot a stinging hex towards him. Blaise only just missed the hex. Blaise quickly sent a stunning curse at Luna who jumped out of the way of. When Luna jumped out the way she sent an '_expelliarmus' _at Blaise. When Blaise didn't realize the spell his wand flew out of his hand and into Luna's waiting hand.

Luna smiled while bouncing on the spot at how she won that duel. She walked over to Blaise to give him his wand and she also surprised him by going on her tip toes and giving him a peck on the cheek before turning back to Harry who was smirking at the Slytherins surprised and flustered face.

"Good job Luna, still pretty well with dueling. Alright I think since Luna won she can choose who she wants to duel next, how does that sound Luna?" Harry asked the blonde.

"Sounds great" Luna said to Harry before turning to the group and smirking at Theo and saying "I want to duel Theo"

Theo smirked and went to stand where Blaise was.

While the two were waiting for Harry to start the duel Hermione leaned into Draco and whispered something that only he could hear "Come to my room at midnight tonight"

Draco smirked down at her and just nodded to her. Happy with his answer Hermione over to sit next to Blaise on the log that they moved in the clearing for them to sit on.

"Are you two ready? The same rules go" Harry added "Go"

This time Luna was the first to send a hex towards to Theo who blocked it with one hand in his pocket looking bored. Theo sent the next one that Luna just blocked and didn't have much time to recover before Theo start to send hex after hex at her. Theo had taken his hand out of his pocket and started to make his way towards Luna. When he was right in front of Luna he disarmed her and then stunned her in matter of seconds. He then walked over and picked up her wand then reversed the stunning spell and helped her up.

"Sorry about that Luna" Theo said sheepishly.

"It's okay Theo, I knew you've had more experience than I have anyway" Luna smiled at him.

"Then why did you choose me?" Theo asked confused as they made their way back to the group.

"I thought it would be fun" Luna said in her dreamy voice again.

"Was it?" Theo asked.

"Yes, I also learnt that I need to speed up my blocking skills. Thank you" Luna said before skipping off and sat next to Blaise who put his hand on the small of her back.

"Well done Theo; never knew you had that in you" Harry said patting him on the back "So who do you want to duel?"

Theo evilly smirked at him and then said "Herms"

Hermione's head snapped up and stared at him with wide eyes before she got an evil smirk on her face that matched Theo's "Let's do this" Hermione said standing up and standing where Luna was.

"Alright, Hermione you have different rules from everyone else" Harry said to Hermione who pouted at him "You have to stay in your human form and you and Theo can use wandless magic but you can't use your special magic like your elemental, alright?" Harry said with a wink.

Hermione sighed but nodded and waiting for Harry to let them know when to start. When he did Hermione started to slowly move closer to Theo who was also moving closer to her. When they were almost face to face Hermione sent a non-verbal stinging hex, when it hit Theo he stepped back and grabbed his leg where Hermione casted the hex. He looked up see Hermione raising her hand ready for the next attack but Theo stopped her by sending her flying back with a swift flick of him wrist.

Hermione looked up to see Theo had recovered fully from her stinging curse; she pushed herself up and quickly jumped out of the way of a hex being sent towards her. She got to her feet in a blink of an eye and started to send curse after curse at Theo who starting to have trouble with the amount of curses being sent towards him. When one finally him he went flying back in flips. Hermione took advantage of this and sent a stunning spell at him which he didn't notice until he was stunned.

Hermione dropped to her knees panting and wait a moment to recover to reverse the spell. Once the spell was lifted Theo sat up in a sitting position and just stared at Hermione in awe "That's the best you've ever done Herms. That is also the first time that you won a duel that isn't a sword or special magic"

Hermione started laughed at Theo and said "Thanks T, well I didn't want to lose again and that's for babying me while back" Hermione winked.

"For the last time I wasn't babying you! You were sick!" Theo said looking at the group.

"No you were babying me" Hermione chuckled as she got up and helped Theo up.

The pair walked back to the group together who were all staring in awe apart from Blaise who was grinning proudly at Hermione.

"Draco, let's go" Hermione said turning on her heel and getting back into position not giving anyone a chance to answer or comment on her wandless magic.

Draco hesitantly walking into the clearing and replaced Theo's spot. Hermione looked at Harry and waited for him to explain the new rules "Okay guys, this is a wand duel. Hermione again you must only use the magic in your wand and you must stay in your human form" Harry said looking at Hermione who nodded and was about to tell them to begin when Draco called out

"What if I'm an animagus?" he asked, everyone looked at him shocked apart from Hermione who was smirking at him.

"Oh then, you can two can change but Hermione you can only choose one form" Harry told her.

Hermione nodded once and turned to Draco and said "Magic or animagus fight?"

Draco smirked at her and tilted his head slightly to the side and said "Animagus"

Hermione giggled and said "Alright, the rules for this one are you can change whenever you want but you must start out in your animagus form. You can use magic only in your human form to stun the other"

"Alright, I shall go first then, shall I?" Draco said and started to grow larger, wings started to shoot out of his back. Horns started to grow out on the back of his neck and his arms and legs became long and thick with scales and sharp claws.

"A dragon" Hermione whispered and smirked to herself and waited for Draco to finished changing before she chose her form for the duel. When Draco was finished transforming into a pure white dragon with dazzling silver eyes and stood three times the size of a man. She began to think of something to change into and then the perfect thing clicked to her.

She started to shrink until she was the size of a peanut. She had small little, orange butterfly wings and deep purple lily flower petal dress that covered her feet.

Everyone was looking at where Hermione was and had no idea where or what she turned into until Luna stood up and said "Aw, she's a little fairy. She's so cute!"

Harry looked close and still couldn't see her so he just started to duel.

Draco's eyes started to dart all over the clearing trying to find Hermione when a little flying thing came just in front of his face and started buzzing in his sight. He noticed it was Hermione and went to chomp at her but she was too fast and she was out of his sight again.

Hermione was now standing on his head and was waiting for him to realize when he started to moved forward slowly and started to move his head side to side trying to spot her, she had to grab out of his horns so stop her from falling off his head. After a few more shakes of his head she slipped backwards and was now sliding down the back of his neck.

Draco felt something slid down his neck and knew it was Hermione. Without a second thought he expanded his wings and took off into the sky with one swift movement. He felt Hermione change on his back and grip onto the spikes that were lining his spine.

Hermione was only just holding on so she had to change back into her human form to stop herself from falling off and hitting any other spikes on his back. She started to scream at the speed he was flying upwards. Hermione's hands were starting to become sweaty from the fright of being up so high. She kept thinking to herself _'Hermione you can do this! Don't let go! Don't look down! You can do this' _just as the thought entered her mind he hands slipped off of the spike she was holding onto and was falling to the ground.

Hermione began to scream and spin in the air; she was too scared to chance her form to save herself so she screamed at the top of her lungs "DRACO!"

Draco felt her slip off and thought that she had finally changed and got off to start the fighting. Draco's thoughts were cut off from an ear piercing scream getting further away by the second and when he heard his name he stopped flying and turned and saw Hermione spinning in the air in her human form falling fast toward the ground. Draco dove down hoping that he could reach her in time to save her.

Down on the ground no one knew what was going on above them since they couldn't see either Hermione or Draco since Hermione was really small and Draco was pure white and blended in with the clouds above. Everyone thought they were getting into it until they heard an ear piercing scream and a falling Hermione spinning in the air towards them.

"Blaise, Theo, is Hermione still scared of heights?" Harry said in a rush of panic.

"Yes, why?" Blaise said also panicking.

"She can't change; her fear is taking over her! She's going to fall!" Harry shouted "Do you have brooms?"

"Yes! _Accio Broomsticks"_ Theo shouted and three brooms came flying out of the house. All three boys jumped onto the brooms and started flying as fast as they could go towards Hermione's now silent falling body.

Draco was still diving when towards Hermione and started to reach out for Hermione who was now silent. Knowing that she wasn't making a sound scared him and he started to flying faster towards her.

Blaise was just a little faster than the rest of them including Draco and was the first to get to Hermione. He grabbing her by the waist and flied off to the side when he saw Draco stop where he was in the sky when he saw Blaise with Hermione. Blaise slid back on his broom slightly and put Hermione in front of him so her head was on his shoulder; her legs were dangling on the right of the room and her hands in her lap. He put one arm around her waist so she wouldn't fall off and turned to the rest of the group who were in the air and anxious to know if she was alright.

"She's alright, just fainted from the fright, come on. Draco come down with us and changed back and we'll wake her up" Blaise said.

Everyone nodded and flew down to the group; Blaise flew a little slower than everyone else. When everyone was down on the ground and in their human form Draco started to ramble on about this was his entire fault.

"Draco, this isn't your fault, you didn't know that she was scared of heights" Luna told him as she put a comforting hand on his arm.

Draco looked at her to see if she was joking but she saw she was being sincere and serious so he nodded to her and shut up.

Harry woke up Hermione with a spell and when she was awake he gave her a massive hug and wouldn't stop asking if she was alright.

"Harry, I'm fine! I shouldn't have let go, I didn't realize how far up we were! Draco just so you know that I don't blame you, you didn't know I was scared of heights" Hermione said turning to Draco.

Draco nodded and helped her up and gave her a massive hug. She hid her face in the crook of his neck and heard him whispered "I'm so sorry"

"It's okay, I let go! I should have told you I'm scared of heights. Can we go inside now?" Hermione whispered back.

Draco pulled back and looked at her a nodded and put an arm around her waist to support her trembling legs and said to everyone "I think that's enough today" and lead everyone inside.

* * *

**A/N: I know I haven't updated in a while but had a heap of school work that needed to be down... **

**Would really appreciate it if you would give me some pointers with anything or have any suggestions, I would love to hear them.**


	11. I Never

_**Not As It Seems**_

_**Chapter 11**_

_**I never**_

**Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter.**

Everyone was sitting in the lounge room talking about everything that's happened so far but everyone was avoiding the topic of Ron. Harry was getting really bored and was trying to think of a game to play but Blaise bet him to it.

"Since this is getting boring, how about we play a game of I never?" he asked everyone.

Before anyone had a chance to agree Hermione and Luna got up and ran to the kitchen, they came back in a few minutes with six shot glasses and about ten bottles of butterbeer and fire whiskey.

They gave everyone a glass and but the bottles in the middle of the table to was put in the middle of the room by the boys. Everyone sat around the room and poured what drink they wanted in the shot glasses. Luna, Harry and Theo took the butterbeer and Draco, Blaise and to everyone's surprise Hermione took fire whiskey.

"Okay the rules of the game are someone says something they've never done and if someone else in the group has done the same then they have to take a shot, everyone understand?" Blaise asked.

"Blaise, I'm pretty sure that we all know. We've played tons of times" Hermione laughed.

"Alright, well, shall we go in a circle then?" Blaise asked.

Everyone nodded and got into a circle around the table. Hermione sat next to Draco on her left, Luna next to him with Blaise of her other side, then it was Harry and then it was Theo on her right.

"I'll go first" Theo said "Then we'll go to the right" he added.

Everyone agreed and waiting for him to say his never "I never kissed someone of the same sex"

Hermione and Luna looked at each other before taking their shot and looking at Harry who was taking his. The girls laughed at his embarrass face.

"Merlin Potter, who'd you kiss?" Draco asked.

Harry stared at his glass and refused to answer so Luna stepped him "He kissed Dean Thomas, as a dare at one of our parties" Harry just glared at everyone because they all laughed at them.

Once everyone was done laughing Harry it was Harry's shot "I never went skinny dipping in the Black Lake"

Hermione glared at him before saying "You will die tonight Harry Potter!" then she took her shot along with Theo. Everyone stared at the two but mainly Hermione "It was another party dare and I went skinny dippy in the Black Lake with Theo!" She whispered the last part but everyone heard her.

They all screamed "WHAT?" at the two and they just looked at each other and cracked up laughing before Theo said "It was when we were going out, we had a little too much to drink at the Three Broomsticks and she stripped me and pushed me in then she did the same and joined me… It was at night so no one saw us I hope"

"Was that when you came back to the common room all wet?" Draco asked.

Hermione started to laugh even harder but controlled herself enough to say "No! I thought it would be funny to push him into the prefect bath and then ran away! We were fighting and that's what I did to him and he couldn't cast a drying charm on himself because I also stole his wand"

Everyone started to laugh and Harry was the first to recover and asked Hermione "Are you sure you're a Gryffindor?"

Hermione went silent at his and said "Of course, if I wasn't I wouldn't have pushed him _and _stolen his wand"

"Alright, alright, next is Zabini"

"Alright, I never forgot the person who I'm shagging's name"

Draco, Harry and Luna all took a shot.

"Luna?" Hermione asked in disbelief "You forgot their name?"

"Yes, I went to a muggle nightclub and went home with one and we did it and at the end when I had my climax I screamed out baby because I forgot his name" Luna said shyly.

Hermione giggled at her shyness before saying "You're next Luna"

Luna smiled evilly at Hermione and giggle when she saw her frown before saying "I never gave a lap dance or received one!"

Harry and Hermione looked at each other with a grim look on their face and took a shot. To everyone's surprise they were the only two who had taken a shot but before anyone could ask Harry answered the unasked question "Gryffindor party"

"How did we miss all these parties?" Theo asked Draco and Blaise who both shrugged.

"I can answer that" Luna said "It's before you three were mean to us three so you were never invited"

"Wait you went too?" Blaise asked in disbelief, Luna just nodded and smiled at him.

"Alright, my turn" Draco said "I never given or received anal"

Harry, Blaise and Theo all took a shot everyone looked at them in shock.

Theo spoke for all of them "I'm speaking for all three of us when I say they were girls and we gave it"

Everyone nodded before they all turned to Hermione for her question.

She locked eyes with Harry and winked at him before they both turned to Draco and she said "I never had sex in a class room and got caught"

Draco narrowed her eyes at him and took a shot. He was the only one who took one and Harry said to everyone "Me and Hermione were looking for something and found Malfoy in a classroom having sex with Daphne Greengrass"

Theo gasped and said "I remember that! You came back cursing Hermione and Potter" Theo started chuckling before saying "Alright, my turn again. Enjoy Hermione"

"What?" Hermione said a little scared.

"I never had sex on a kitchen bench and got caught"

"Screw you Theodore" Hermione whispered in a low voice before taking a shot.

Everyone looked at her in shocked thinking that she isn't as innocent as they thought.

Hermione looked up and noticed everyone staring at her apart from Theo who was trying to hide his laughing but failing "I was at my parents place before we went on the run and I had an old friend over, my parents weren't home, I was upset about something" Hermione gave Draco a quick glance that he didn't miss "And he came for a quick visit and one thing lead to another and Theo walked in about to telling me about some plans he had and I was in the middle of my orgasm when he did"

"That was a pretty hot orgasm" Theo winked. Hermione just glared at him and mouthed 'I will kill you'

"Um, my turn" Harry asked trying to break the tension "I never had sex at a party"

Everyone but harry drank. Hermione had a thought before asking Harry "Didn't you and Ginny do it when she dragged you behind a tree near the lake party?"

Harry shook his head "We almost did but then she changed her mind and broke up with me" he shrugged.

"I never knew that" Hermione said but he only shrugged again "Alright, Blaise your turn"

"I never had sex with an enemy"

Theo, Draco and Hermione all took a shot.

"I know Theo and Hermione's story but what's yours Draco?" Blaise asked.

"Um…" Draco said before Hermione spoke up "It doesn't matter"

Blaise stared at Hermione and Draco before his mouth dropped to the floor and his eyes grew wider than ever "You two shagged?"

"Yes okay! We also dated!" Hermione almost screamed.

"What?" Theo said "I knew you had a thing for him but I never knew you dated"

"What was I meant to say Theo? Oh I went out with Draco Malfoy by the way oh and I erased his memory of it as well. When would that have come into any conversation without me looking like a freak?" Hermione screamed as she stood up "I'm going to bed!"

Hermione then ran up the stairs and into her room slamming her door shut. Everyone turned to Draco for an explanation "Look yes we dated, she did erase my memory but my feelings were still there and I found a letter in the Astronomy Tower that was addressed to Hermione from my father saying that if she didn't do it then he would kill both of us, he said that he would kill me slowly and make her watch and then kill her" Draco said grimly, "Wait I swear I told you this?" He added

Everyone just stayed silent before Luna said "You did but I erased everyone's memory for Hermione, I should go and check on her" she started to stand up but Blaise grabbed her hand and pulled her down and said.

"It would be best if we leave her to calm down, and don't erase my memory again" He said teasing.

"No, I need to go see if she's okay" Draco got up and ignored everyone's calls to him to let her calm down.

When he got to her room he lightly knocked and when there was no answer he opened the door and found her sitting at the window seat with her guitar on her lap and just staring out the window. She didn't notice him until he was sitting in front of her on the window seat.

"I'm sorry" She said in a horsey voice.

"There's nothing to be sorry about" Draco said in a soft voice "You did what you had to, to protect us"

Hermione shook her head and turned to him with a tear stained face "I'm not sorry about that, I'm sorry about what I said to everyone down there. I didn't think of what I was saying, I've been hiding it for so long thinking that your friends would think of you differently"

"It's alright, they were bound to find out sooner or later anyway" Draco smiled a sad smile at her "Can you play me a song?"

Hermione looked down at her guitar and got into a better position to play and started to strum the strings and started to sing:

_When the rain is blowing in your face,  
And the whole world is on your case,  
I could offer you a warm embrace,  
To make you feel my love_

When the evening shadows and the stars appear,  
And there's no one there to dry your tears,  
I could hold you for a million years,  
To make you feel my love

I know you haven't made your mind up yet,  
But I would never do you wrong  
I've known it from the moment that we met,  
No doubt in my mind where you belong

I'd go hungry,  
I'd go black and blue,  
And I'd go crawling down the avenue  
No, there's nothing that I wouldn't do,  
To make you feel my love

Ooh,  
Mmm

Oh, the storms are raging on the rolling sea,  
And on the highway of regret  
The winds of change are blowing wild and free,  
You ain't seen nothing like me yet

I could make you happy,  
Make your dreams come true,  
Nothing that I wouldn't do  
Go to the ends of the Earth for you,  
To make you feel my love

To make you feel my love

Draco watched as tears fell out of her eyes as she sang. He reached up and wiped her tears away with his thumb.

Hermione bit her lip and stared into Draco's soft liquid silver eyes that she fell in love with. She closed her eyes and sighed as he cupped her cheek and wiped her tears away. She opened her eyes again and whispered "I miss you Drake"

Draco gave her a small smiled and whispered back "I'm right here and I won't be leaving you again"

Hermione gave him a small smile back and said "Promise?"

Draco chuckled lightly before leaning in, as their lips were about to touched Draco said "I promise you" then he connected his lips to hers.

The kiss of full of emotion but the strongest one they could feel was love. Hermione was the first one to break the kiss and she looked up at Draco and smiled widely and said "I love you Draco Malfoy"

"I love you Hermione Granger" Draco smiled; he leaned in a connected their kiss again before Hermione pulled back and looked at him more serious than he's ever seen her.

"Draco, I need to do something and I need your help with it" Hermione whispered.

"Anything" Draco said.

"Take me to Malfoy Manor" Hermione said bluntly.

* * *

**A/N: I know I haven't updated in a while but had some stuff going on but will try and update quicker**


	12. Notes

_**Not As It Seems**_

_**Chapter 12:**_

_**Notes**_

**Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter.**

Draco stared at Hermione emotionless for a few moments before stuttering "W-what?"

"I need you to take me to Malfoy Manor, there is something there that I need but if I went alone like I have before I will never be able to get in and out without being noticed… do you remember a couple of months ago when someone was trying to break into the Manor?" Hermione asked.

"And I found someone in the drawing room crying?" Draco said starting to frown.

Hermione nodded "That was me. I was looking for the library but I found myself in the drawing room and being tortured by your aunt started to replay right in front of my eyes, like I was watching it from the side. I have dreams of it but I'm always being the one being tortured never watching it" Hermione whispered with tears falling from her eyes.

Draco wiped her tears away with his thumbs. It was at this moment that he realized just how broken the war had made the strongest of all people. He pulled her into his arms and let her cry on his shoulder. "If I knew that was you, I could've helped, but since I couldn't then, I won't ever let anyone hurt you again" Draco promised to her and himself.

Hermione sniffed and pulled back and looked Draco right in the eye and asked again "Draco, I need you to take to the Manor, you're the only one who can help me with this!"

"What would we tell the others? 'Oh we're just going to Malfoy Manor, be back soon guys' they won't let us go" Draco tried to reason.

Hermione chucked making Draco confused "You know that I'm called the brightest witch for a reason right?"

Draco shook his head "What do you need from the Manor? I've brought a lot with me because Potter put on an undetectable extension charm on my bag"

"It's not in there" Hermione said plainly.

"Wait what? How do you know if it's not or if it is?" Draco asked frowning again.

"I might've had a quick look when you were sleeping the first night" Hermione said avoiding his eyes "I'm sorry, I was desperate and I need answered and I wasn't sure what you'd say so I just went and did it…"

"Hermione, it's okay. I would've said yes if you asked but were you looking for?" Draco asked again.

"The cure" Hermione sighed.

"Why do you think I'd have that? I didn't even know you were alive let alone had dark magic running through your veins" Draco exclaimed "Wait, I thought there wasn't a cure? That's what Theo said"

"There is a cure I just haven't told them about it" Hermione shrugged.

"Why? They could have helped you get it the first time and you would have been better a lot earlier and wouldn't be waiting for it to take your body over again"

"It's not exactly a cure more like a solution to my problem"

"And what is this solution, I won't agree to take you until you tell me what it is" Draco said.

"I was looking a book" Hermione said with disgust.

"A book" Draco stared at her for a moment before realization came over his face "Is the cure in the book?"

Hermione nodded her head "Yes, but I found out that the curse she used slowly kills me. If I get her blood then I can make a potion to help it but that will only prolong the amount of time I have left"

Draco stood up and walked over to the bed and sat on the edge and dropped his head into his hands "I only just got you back" he whispered to her.

"Which is why I'm going to find the book and her, before the cures takes over" Hermione said standing up and walking over to her wardrobe and opening out.

She pulled out three-quarter black cargo pants out with a navy blue hoodie with a plain black t-shirt. She pulled the long shirt she was wearing off and reviling a light purple and black lace bra.

Draco watched her from the bed as she pulled her black top over her head and over her body and then did the same with the jumper then pulled her hair into a tight messy bun. Then she pulled her grey sweats down her legs that went on for miles and pulled on her black cargo pants with a belt to keep them in place before turning to see Draco watching her.

"Go get changed while I write a note for the others and then we're leaving!" Hermione told him.

Draco nodded and went to his room silently. Hermione pulled a piece of parchment out from her draw with some ink and a quill and wrote a note to the others in case they came looking for her or Draco. As she finished the note Draco walked into the room wearing black jeans and a baggy black jumper.

"Ready then?" he asked.

Hermione checked that she had everything needed in her beaded bag and nodded to him before going to the window and pushing it open and turning back to him "We have to either jump or I can fly us both from her"

"If we jump we might injury ourselves but if you transform then you might make some noise and then the others will know something is up so how about you jump out and change in the air and then land on the ground as quietly as possible and then fly back up and I'll jump on your back and we get away fast?" Draco suggested.

Hermione looked out the window for a while before nodding and turning back to Draco "Lock the door with all the locking charms you can think of while I jump out the window and transform and when you come to the window I want you to stand on the window pane and pull the curtains close so they think that we're shagging or something and don't want to be disturbed and keep the window unlocked but closed. Do you understand?" Hermione asked thinking of something she can transform into that doesn't make a sound and can land softly.

Draco nodded and headed to the door mumbling different charms while Hermione pulled her bag over her shoulder so it was sitting across her chest. She walked over to the window and took a deep breath to calm her nerves and she jumped.

Draco turned just in time to see Hermione jump and walked over to the window quietly and stood up onto the window pane and pulled the curtains shut with a little gap so they can see in and turned around to a Hippogriff staring at him. His eyes widened remembering third year with Buckbeak. Looking into its eyes he saw amusement and knew that it was Hermione. He mumbled for her to shut up as he climbed onto her back and pulled the window shut silently.

Together they flew off past the muggle repellent charms that made muggles think they had something very important to do if they came near the cottage. Once they were safe to apparate they landed in a small clearing. Draco hopped off of Hermione and she changed back into her human form and they went into the trees.

Draco told Hermione to hold onto his arm, when her hand closed around Draco's he apparated them into the forest on the side of the Manor.

Back at the cabin no one noticed Hermione and Draco disappear until an hour after when Theo went to check on the two and found both of their bedrooms were empty and so was the rest of the cottage. The group was in Hermione's room with Blaise holding the note that she wrote to them to tell them where she and Draco were:

_Hey guys,_

_Quickly gone to the Manor again, we need that book but I have a very good idea about what the curse is about but I just need to know. Don't follow! I've brought Draco so I'll be okay._

_Lots of love Hermione and Draco_

_Xoxo_

Blaise read out to the group. No one spoke for a moment until Theo punched the wall making everyone jump.

"Is she that stupid?" He yelled as he walked down the hall to his bedroom.

Blaise followed quickly after him with Harry and Luna right behind him. Inside Theo's room they saw him packing his bag that Hermione charmed with a few pieces of clothing, potions, his sword and other things he might need.

"Theo what are you doing?" Blaise asked even though he knew exactly what he was doing.

"I'm going after them! I won't let either one of them die!" Theo snapped as he zipped up his bag.

"If you're going after them don't take your bag. Just clip your sword to your back and have your wand on you if needed" Blaise sighed.

Everyone looked at Blaise like he grew a second head. "What? I'm doing the same, it'll be easier then carrying around a bag that could easily break" He shrugged his shoulders and walked out of the room to get his sword from his bedside table.

"They have to disarm the wards of the Manor without anyone knowing so that will take them a few hours so we should get there before they break through" Harry stated once everyone was ready and in the living room.

Everyone nodded their heads as they put their hands in on top of Harry's to do a side-along apparition.

Feeling their feet touch the ground again they all too a quick second to gain their bearings. When they all looked up they came face to face with a very angry Hermione Granger pointing her sword at them.

Realizing who just apparated Hermione put her sword down but didn't put it away incase death eaters noticed them. Draco was disarming the wards since he lived at Malfoy Manor while Hermione was on look out.

"What are you four doing here?" Hermione whispered harshly.

"Do you really think we'd let you two have all the fun did you?" Blaise grinned slyly at Hermione, only making her glare back at him.

"I don't care why you are all here! Go back to the cottage now!" Hermione snapped quietly pointing her sword at the four.

Theo came and stood next to her and put his hand on hers that were gripping the handle of her sword tightly, making her knuckles turn white, he pushed her hands down gently to get her to put her sword down. "We're not letting you face her alone. What happened to doing this together?" Theo whispered to her.

Hermione just stared at him for a moment before sighing in defeat and nodded her head. It was at that moment that Luna noticed that Draco wasn't with her or anywhere near them. "Where's Draco?" She asked in her usual dreamy voice.

"He's disarming the wards over there" Hermione pointed at the ground about ten feet off from them.

When they all looked around Hermione they all noticed a flash of short platinum blonde hair bobbing up and down looking like an impatient rabbit. They all looked back at Hermione with a confused look on their faces.

"Oh don't worry, he started to annoy me so I sent a bouncing charming at him" Hermione chuckled into her hand.

"Shut it Hermione" Draco whispered harshly from where he was.

"Don't make me send another hex at you!" Hermione snapped back.

"So what's the plan?" Theo asked.

"Not get killed and get that book!" Hermione said with a strong voice, "Oh and try and not be seen" She added just as Draco made his way towards them.

"All the wards are done, I don't think anyone inside noticed so we should be good and we have the element of surprise" Draco whispered to the group.

Hermione send Draco a warning glare, Draco only gave her an apologetic smile. "What do you mean we have the element of surprise?" Blaise asked staring at Hermione sternly.

"Do you honestly think I'd come here if Bellatrix was here just for a book? No" Hermione sighed.

"Hermione, your hate for the bitch is distracting you from finding a cure for the curse she casted on you!" Theo said.

"I know what the cure is and I believe you do too" Hermione told the group, "But I knew that if I told you the real reason for coming here then you wouldn't let me!"

"Merlin Hermione, you're not going in there! I won't let you kill yourself!" Blaise said bringing her into a tight hug.

"Wait what?" Draco and Harry both said at the same time.

"Wait she didn't tell you the real reason she came?" Theo asked Draco who just shook his head. "She's going after Bellatrix to kill her" Theo sighed as Blaise let go of Hermione.

"Mione, she will kill you" Harry cried trying getting some sense into his best friend's head.

"Voldemort could've killed you but that didn't stop you did it?" Hermione shot back.

Everyone was quiet for a moment before Harry sighed and walked up to Hermione and put his hands on her shoulders, "What's the plan?" He asked looking grim.

Hermione smiled brightly at him and wrapped her arms around his neck tightly. Looked over Harry's shoulder everyone looked grim but all seemed to agree to come along.

After making a quick plan everyone went their separate ways to get into position for entering the Manor.


	13. Inside

_**Not As It Seems**_

_**Chapter 13:**_

_**Inside**_

**Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter.**

Sneaking up to the manor unseen was easier than Hermione and Draco thought it would be. Kneeling down outside of a window that leads to the cellar Hermione turned to Draco with a frown.

"What is it?" Draco whispered trying to keep his voice down.

"It just seems a little _too_ easy don't you think?" Hermione asked with a whisper.

Looking around Draco spotted the rest of the group waiting in a few bushes for the signal for them to move forward. Turning back to Hermione who was looking through the window trying to see if anyone was there, Draco started to get a bad feeling. "Hermione, I don't think this is a good idea" Draco voiced.

Turning away from what she was doing, Hermione looked at Draco for a moment before shaking her head and turning back to the window. Taking out her wand she tapped the window three times gentle and sat back to watch the glass melt like she poured acid onto the glass.

"How did you do that?" Draco asked in awe, never seeing someone melt glass with a few taps of their wand.

"It's a spell Blaise found when we travelled to Italy for a bit and hid in his family's holiday house" Hermione shrugged. "It melts any kind of glass, even if it's really thick or bullet proof"

"Bullet proof?" Draco asked with confusion.

"It's a muggle thing, I'll explain later" Hermione said.

Moving toward the window at a slow pace Hermione was about to slide into the window feet first then a hand grabbed her shoulder. Spinning around and aiming her wand at whoever touched her, she quickly lowered it seeing it was only Draco smirking at her. "Don't do that!" She whispered harshly.

"Sorry, just be careful" Draco said sincerely.

Hermione nodded knowing how concern she would be if he was the one going inside the manor alone which could be crawling with death eaters. Giving Draco a quick kiss on the lips Hermione moved back over to the window. Turning around and giving Draco one last look she said, "Make sure everyone is okay when you come in" before slipping into the window.

Draco looked over at the group again and raised his hand on top of his head. He watched as one by one the four made their way over to them. First Luna, then Theo followed by Harry and Blaise bringing in the rear.

When everyone was in a circle around Draco they moved to the other side of the manor and came to another window that was about three feet from the floor. Blaise did the same spell Hermione did on the glass.

Harry slipped in first being one of the more experienced on the five. Luna climbed in with the help of the boys. Theo jumped in just before Draco and Blaise jumped in after before repairing the window.

"Alright boys, lead the way" Luna said in her dreamy voice while looking around the dark room.

There was enough light from the moon coming in to see that they were in the library where Harry and Ron came to see Draco before going to find Hermione.

Taking the lead Draco walked over to the door. Pulling it open just enough to stick his head out, he looked out the hallway and gave the all clear when it was empty.

* * *

The room was dark; the only light was coming from the window Hermione just slipped through. Looking around Hermione noticed a table full of potion ingredients and parchment. A cauldron was in the middle but it was empty and unlit.

On the edges of the room were bookcases full of books to do with the dark arts Hermione thought bitterly. Looking up she noticed that the room had a very high ceiling for a cellar.

Moving to door that was on the far end of the room, Hermione noted that the manor sounded very quiet and looked unused. Hoping it was unused she carefully took the stairs that were on the other side of the door up to the next level.

Quickly checking that no one was in the hallway, Hermione made her way down the hall, silently with her wand drawn and ready. Finding herself facing a pair of double doors, hoping she was in the right place, she crept into the room and kept to the wall as quietly and quickly as she could manage.

Hiding herself in the shadows searched the room for any living thing, she sighed with relief seeing it was empty in here as well. She was about to move out of the shadows when the door creaked open and walked in figures walked into the room with their wands drawn and moving around carefully.

One had ragged brown hair that looked like it needs to be cut, with boarded shoulders. He wasn't tall but taller than Hermione. The other had long blonde hair that had soft waves in it. She had a very calm and welcoming vibe to her that Hermione knew too well.

"Lune, Theo, is that you?" Hermione whispered so they wouldn't know where she was.

She watched the two go back to back and look around the room looking for the voice. Seeing them so prepared made Hermione giggle and move out of the shadows.

They both relaxed noticeably when they saw that the voice was only Hermione. "What are you doing in here Hermy?" Theo asked.

Hermione rolled her eyes at him before answering, "I'm looking Bellatrix" Hermione hesitated.

"Yes I know but she isn't in here so why were you still in here if you saw she wasn't?" Theo asked suspiciously.

Hermione sighed in defeat, "Fine, I know this is the main place she is whenever she's at the manor!"

It was then that Hermione took a look around for the first time. There was a fire place in the middle of the back wall. Bookcases on the other walls. A leather couch in the middle of the room facing the fireplace. There was a desk on the side wall to the left under a window.

"You couldn't have mentioned that earlier?" Theo snapped.

"Mentioned what earlier?" Came a new voice from the doorway.

Turning around with all their wands pointed they noticed it was just Draco, Blaise and Harry. Lowering their wands everyone turned back to Hermione waiting for an answer.

Instead of answering their questing gazes Hermione turned around and walked over to the fireplace. Running a hand over the mantle place she almost missed the piece of paper lying flat on top. Picking it up Hermione read it out for everyone to hear.

_Let's play a little game mudblood. Can you find me before I kill your little friend I have with me?_

_~Bellatrix _

Lighting the note on fire with a wandless incendio in the middle of her palm and watched at the paper curled into itself, until it became dusk. Turning back to the group with a more determined look in her eyes she set her gaze onto Harry.

"Has anyone gone missing since I disappeared?" Hermione asked as she walked back to the group, who all looked nervous and looking between Harry and her.

Racking his brain Harry couldn't think of anyone at the top of his head. Shaking his head he looked at Hermione sadly.

Letting out a groan of frustration Hermione threw her head back. Looking back at the group she took all of them in and noticed just how prepared they looked.

"I don't know who she could mean by 'kill my little friend', everyone I love is right…" Hermione trailed off with a hit of realization came across her face.

"Hermione, what is it?" Blaise said in a raised tone as he came to her said as she started to sway.

Breaking from his grip Hermione shot out of the room and down the hall toward a flight of stairs going upward.

Following the panicking Hermione everyone exchanged a confused look with each other. Finally catching up with a very still Hermione, who was looking into a room with wide horror filled eyes.

Before anyone could even blink Hermione leapt into the room transforming into a leopard and was charging at whatever was in the room.

Running in after her everyone stopped dead in their tracks when they got a look into the room. Tied to the wall with enchanted chains was a little boy who had the same colour hair and eyes as Hermione but looked like he was about ten years old.

Hermione was being circle by a group of death eaters in her human form again, thinking that it would be better if she used magic and not her animal instincts. Holding her wand tightly in her right hand and her silver sword in her left hand, holding it just as tightly.

Bellatrix was standing next to the boy with her wand pointed at him lazily but her eyes were locked with Hermione's hatred stare. Looking past her she took notice at the rest of the group for the first time.

"Well, I can see that you can't face me without your pets following you to their deaths" Bellatrix pouted.

Hermione gave an inhuman growl that sounded like a wolf growl. "Your one to talk, having your little freaks cage me in and then talk about my friends coming after me" Hermione spat.

"I would be very careful what you say mudblood, I do have your little friend here after all" Bellatrix said darkly.

Hermione tensed visibly but didn't say anything for fear she would do something to the little boy. She watched like a hawk watching their prey as Bellatrix walked up to the boy and put a hand through his hair roughly causing him to whimper.

Hearing the little boy whimper Hermione took a daring step forward making all the death eaters point their wands at her but she ignored them as she raised her wand to the ceiling.

With a flick of her wrist a ghost like otter came dancing out of her wand and circle her. "It's time" Hermione told the otter before it swam out of the room as fast as it could.

"That little trick won't do anything mudblood" Bellatrix cackled.

"You'd be surprised what my little tricks can you bitch" Hermione said in deadly calm tone. "Just you wait" She added.

Before she could reply the windows on the side of the room exploded with shards of glass flying everywhere, making everyone throw their hands up to block the glass from their faces, apart from Hermione who stood there glaring at Bellatrix.

Looking up everyone noticed two hooded figures standing tall next to Hermione with their wands pointed at Bellatrix.

One of the figures turned around reveling Kingsley on the left of Hermione. "Take out the death eaters, we'll take care of Bellatrix" He addressed the group and turned around before they could reply.

Blaise taking the lead turned to the rest of them. "Luna you and Harry will stay here and take out any death eaters that come in, Draco, Theo and I will take care of the ones in here" Blaise told everyone.

Everyone nodded; Harry and Luna turned to the door and stood near the middle of the doorway. Draco and Theo took the left side while Blaise took the right side which had less death eaters on it.

One of the death eaters took notice of the group separating and sent a crucio towards Blaise who blocked it with ease. This seemed to set everyone off and there were curses and spells flying everywhere.

Draco and Theo were taking out the death eaters with ease; using disarming charms and stunning spells on the death eaters. Blaise wasn't doing as good; he got hit with a jelly legs jinx. Harry and Luna kept all the new death eaters out of the room like they were meant to but were starting to become outnumbered quickly.

Hermione was in the middle of a duel with Bellatrix, Kingsley and the other hooded figure were making sure no other death eater could get to her.

Bellatrix send a _fiendfyre_ towards Hermione in the shape of a basilisk. Hermione tried to fend it off with an _aguamenti _only to have the fire basilisk break through it and strike at Hermione. Doing the only think she could to prevent getting burnt alive, Hermione jumped out of the way and landed on a pile of the shattered glass.

Letting out a gasp Hermione grabbed her leg to feel it hot and sticky, knowing it was blood she took her hand away and was about to cast a quick healing charm on her gash but her wand flew out of her grip before she could move.

Turning around as fast as possible Hermione felt her blood run cold seeing Bellatrix holding the little boy but the hair and her wand pointed to his throat. Bellatrix obviously took the enchanted chains off the boy.

"Let him go!" Hermione yelled as loud as she could making everyone stop what they were doing. Standing up with some difficultly, she put her hands up getting ready to use her wandless magic if needed. She took a few calming breathes when she felt her magic becoming unstable again.

Bellatrix just cackled when she saw Hermione start to lose control. She threw down the little boy a few feet away from her like he was trash and pointed her wand at his crumpled body.

"Avada-"Bellatrix started.

"DANNY!" Hermione screamed and threw herself in between the evil which and the now crying little boy just as Bellatrix finished the incantation.

"Kedavra" Bellatrix finished and the light green light came out of her wand and headed straight towards Hermione's chest.


	14. Collapse

**A/N: I know I haven't updated in suuuuch a long time but my laptop needed to be repaired and I only got it back the other day...  
**

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_**Not As It Seems**_

_**Chapter 14:**_

_**Collapse**_

**Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter.**

Everyone watched in horror as the killing curse made its way towards Hermione who now had her hands up with a bright purple light coming out of them.

"_Vive" _Hermione shouted at the top of her lungs.

Everything seemed to freeze when the green light from Bellatrix's wand connecting with Hermione's hands. Instead of dropping dead where she stood, a bright purple light erupted from her hands.

The light was so bright that everyone had to cover their eyes so they wouldn't go blind. Looking back up when the light was gone everyone, even the death eaters, were in shock at what they saw.

Standing tall and proud in front of Bellatrix with her hands still held up and smoking rising from them now, stood Hermione with an ice cold glare on her face.

No one knew what to say, she was meant to die. Dropping her hands to her side snapped Blaise out of his shock. "Hermione, you did it! You found a protective spell for the killing curse!" Blaise said excitedly.

"That's impossible!" Bellatrix mumbled angrily. "This ends here mudblood" Bellatrix growled. "_CRUCIO"_

Instead of blocking or moving out of the way of the curse, Hermione stood there and let the curse hit her. Strangely enough she couldn't feel the normal pain you would feel during the curse. Taking a step forward Hermione broke the curse and cast a swift silent '_Stupefy'_ that was sadly deflected by Bellatrix.

"That little trick doesn't work on me" Bellatrix cackled.

Hermione knew that everyone's eyes were on her. She raised her hands at shoulder height and closed her eyes. She faintly heard gasps coming from around her as she opened her eyes and looked in front of her to see all the shattered glass from earlier gathering in front of her pointing at Bellatrix.

Hermione pushed her hands in front of her so her arms were straight again. She watched in amazement as Bellatrix's eyes grew to the size of dinner plates when the glass when flying towards her. Bellatrix made a screech as the glass made contact with her skin.

"Is that all you've got you filthy little mudblood" Bellatrix sneered trying to recover.

"Blaise" Hermione called out without turning around, "Get Danny and everyone else out of here"

"We're not leaving you Hermione" Theo yelled back.

Hermione didn't say anything she just grabbed Danny's arm with a little force and pushed him to Blaise who picked him up. She turned to Theo with her eyes a solid black.

"Get out now" Hermione said with a scary calm voice before turning back to Bellatrix who had recovered and most of her cuts were healed.

Hermione didn't have to turn back to know that Draco was struggling against Harry and Theo while he was being dragged out. Keeping her focusing on Bellatrix, Hermione ignored the death eaters starting to circle her.

Fighting against Harry and Theo's arms Draco tried to break free to get to Hermione. He called her name out but it seemed that she couldn't hear now or she was ignoring him.

"We can't just leave her!" He yelled when they were almost back at the library.

Luna came in front of him and put her hands on the sides of his face in a calming matter, "Calm down Draco, Hermione will be fine. She will get out of here I promise" Luna smiled.

Seeing how calm and certain Luna was about Hermione made Draco came down a little but he still felt like he needed to be there with her.

As if sensing Draco hesitance Harry spoke up for the first time since leaving Hermione, "Draco, you need to trust Hermione. She's a lot stronger than any of us give her credit for" Harry said putting a hand on Draco's shoulder.

Draco nodded, "I hope your right Harry" Draco sighed.

"For your sake, I do too" Harry whispered to himself so no one would hear.

"Aw, being the hero are we mudblood" Bellatrix taunted and sent another killing curse at Hermione who jumped out of the way and let the curse hit a death eater. "Think you're so smart don't you mudblood?" Bellatrix yelled.

"That's more thinking then you do at least" Hermione snapped back making Bellatrix send another killing curse but once again Hermione jumped out of the way and let it hit another death eater.

"The way you're going, you won't have any death eaters left" Hermione said calmly as she dodged another kill curse.

"ENOUGH!" Bellatrix shouted pissed now that all her death eaters were all killed. "I won't let a filthy mudblood defeat me!"

Bellatrix send one last killing curse at Hermione knowing that she didn't have anyone else to kill. But Hermione just smirked at this as she let the curse come racing toward her. Just before the curse would hit her Hermione sent her counter curse toward it. The two spells connected and created an explosion that sent the two witches backwards.

Bellatrix went flying out the window while Hermione only fell backwards thanks to the counter curse protecting her.

Standing up Hermione ran to the window and looked out to see Bellatrix also standing up. Climbing out the window Hermione thanked whatever god was out there that there were on the first floor.

As Bellatrix was stumbling to stay standing the others watched from a distance as Hermione's eyes turned back to their normal calm honey brown colour.

Hermione brought her hand up and stared Bellatrix down, "This ends here" Hermione said "AVADA KEDAVRA" She shouted at the top of her lungs as a power green light came shooting out of her hand and hit Bellatrix straight in the middle of her chest.

Everyone watched as Bellatrix's body fell down to the ground with a thud. Breathing a sigh of relief Hermione looked down at her left arm and smiled brightly when she saw it was plain and unscarred.

Hermione was too focused on her now unscarred arm that she was didn't realize everyone running over to them until Draco lifted her up and spun her around before gently kissing her lips with his own.

Letting Hermione down Draco watched as everyone gave her big congratulation hugs before she turned to the little boy Danny.

"Hey Danny, you feeling okay?" She asked as she knelt down so she was eye level with him.

Danny just smiled and gave Hermione a huge hug. Letting go Hermione turned back to everyone she held onto Danny's hand, "Everyone this is Danny, he's my little cousin" She said with a wide smile.

Everyone greeting Danny like one of their own before Harry came over and picked him up over his shoulder, "I think we should go now, I'll take Danny home and meet you guys back at the cottage?" Harry asked.

Hermione shook her head as she grabbed onto Draco's hand, "I think that it's time I see some people, meet us at the Burrow" Hermione smiled widely making Harry smiled brightly.

Harry said a quick goodbye before appartaing to Danny's house at the same time as everyone else apparated to the burrow.

Landing in front of the house Hermione squeezed Draco's hand knowing he was nervous to be at the Weasley household.

Before Hermione could give him some encouraging words to help calm him down someone shouting her name interrupted her. Turning around she saw Ginny running up to her with tears running down her face, meeting her halfway Hermione gave her best friend the biggest hug she could. "I've missed you so much!" Ginny sobbed.

Hearing Ginny starting to sob making Hermione start to cry as well, "I've miss you so much too! You have no idea how hard it was to stay away from so long!" She giggled as she pulled away.

The boys and Luna watched the two girls reunited with warm smiled on their faces. Hearing the door bang open and a pop from someone appartaing they turned their eyes to see Harry beside him and Mr. and Mrs. Weasley, and George standing there in shock seeing Hermione alive and in Ginny's arms.

Turning her head she looked to see some of the Weasley family staring at her making her laugh a little, George seemed to be the first one to snap out of it as he ran to Hermione and engulfed her in a big brotherly hug and lift her up and squeezed her.

"Where have you been?" He asked seriously.

"You know, being on the run from death eaters and trying to stop another war, the usual" She smiled as he set her down letting her be pulled into a bone crushing hug by Molly.

"Oh Hermione dear, I'm glad you're okay!" Molly cried as she let a few tears out, "Ron will be so happy to know you're okay" She added making Hermione, Luna and the boys all stiffen.

Noticing how tense every is Arthur asked the question they were all dreading, "Where's Ron?"

Hermione let go of Molly and walked back to the boys, Luna and now Ginny who came to see Harry and Luna but to also say hi to the Slytherins. Hermione grabbed Draco's hand and looked at Harry who also looked at her.

"Ron, was took a killing curse for Hermione" Harry said grimly.

No one said anything for a few moments before Molly broke the silence, "Oh dear, my Ronnie is gone" She cried.

"But Molly, you should look at it this way, he may have die but he died doing the right thing" Arthur told her, "I'm very proud of my boy for doing that for someone" He smiled making everyone else agree and smile slightly.

Molly nodded before turned to everyone, "Everyone come inside and come tea and tell us all about what happened" Molly said warmly before turning to the Slytherins who were standing there awkwardly, "You fellas too, there is enough for everyone" She said surprising the boys.

Everyone followed them inside apart from Draco and Hermione who stayed outside for a moment. "I'm glad that's finally over" Hermione groaned, "But I'm glad it happened" She added with a smile.

"What do you mean?" Draco asked confused.

"If it didn't happen then I wouldn't be with you right now. I love you Draco Malfoy" She whispered giving him a small peck on the cheek.

Draco smiled down at her, "I think that was the best part, seeing you again. I love you too Hermione Granger" Draco whispered back before putting his right hand on the side of her face and the other around her lower back before connecting their lips together.

They stayed like that for a moment before a voice interrupted them, "Yes, we know you love each other now come on Mrs. Weasley made us some dinner" Theo chuckled from the doorway.

Draco and Hermione blushed before pulled apart and walking into the burrow hand in hand with bright smiles on their faces, happy to have such great friends and each other.

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**A/N: Well this is it, I'm finished my first fanfiction. Thanks for reading it and hope you enjoyed it.  
**


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